
Class : fiXi ^ 93<^ 



Book 



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GoppghtN", 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






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PRESBYTERIAN COLONIES AT THE CLOSE OF THE 17th CENTURY. 



AMERICAN 



PRESBYTERIANISM 



ITS ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY 



TOGETHER WITH AN APPENDIX OF LETTERS AND DOCU- 
MENTS, MANY OF WHICH HAVE RECENTLY BEEN 
DISCO VERED 



BY ;. 

CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, D.D. 

DAVENPORT PROFESSOR OF HEBREW AND THE COGNATE LANGUAGES IN THE 
UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK CITY 



WITH MAPS 



/ 






NEW YORK 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



^^"'^ 



M 



COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. 



Edward O. Jenkins' Sons. 



TO 



THE SENATUS ACADEMICUS 



UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, 

THE ALMA MATER OF MANY OF THE FOUNDERS OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERI- 

ANISM, IN MEMORY OF THE CELEBRATION OF ITS TERCENTENARY, 

WITH CONGRATULATIONS UPON ITS ACHIEVEMENTS, AND 

PRAYER FOR ITS INCREASED PROSPERITY, 



^his Booh 



IS DEDICATED AS A TOKEN OF GRATITUDE AND AFFECTION. 



PREFACE 



American Presbyterianism has been carefully stud- 
ied by a number of the best scholars the Presbyterian 
Churches of America have produced. There are several 
works, well known to the public, of great merit. It will 
be sufficient to mention : The Constitutional History of 
the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
by Charles Hodge, D.D., LL.D., Philadelphia, 1851 ; His- 
tory of the Presbyterian Church in A merica from its ori- 
gin until the year 1 760, zvith Biographical Sketches of its 
Early Ministers, by the Rev. Richard Webster, Philadel- 
phia, 1857 ; History of the Presbyterian Church ift the 
United States, by Ezra H. Gillett, D.D., 2 vols., Re- 
vised edition, Philadelphia, 1864; Mammal of the Re- 
formed Church in America, by the Rev. E. T. Corwin, 
D.D., 3d edition, New York, 1879. These are models 
of their kind. The author has found them very helpful 
in his researches. 

There are also a considerable number of valuable 
monographs, among which we may mention : Sketches of 
North Carolina, N. Y., 1846; Sketches of Virginia, Phil- 
adelphia, 1850 ; Sketches of Virginia, 2d series, Philadel- 
phia, 1855, all by Rev. W. H. Foote, D.D., containing 
rich stores of information ; History of Elizabeth, by Rev. 
E. F. Hatfield, D.D., N. Y., 1868 ; Historical Discourses 
relating to the First Presbyterian Church in Newark, by 
Rev. J. F. Stearns, D.D., Newark, 1853 ; History of 
Southold, by the Rev. E. Whitaker, D.D., Southold, 1881 ; 

(V) 



yi PREFACE. 

Annals of Newtown^ by James Riker, N. Y., 1852 ; Two 
Centuries in the History of the Presbyterian Church, Ja- 
maica, L. /., by the Rev. J. M. Macdonald, D.D., N. Y., 
1862 ; History of Rye, N. Y., 1871, and History of Bed- 
ford Church, N. Y., 1882, both by Rev. C. W. Baird, D.D. ; 
Biographical Sketches of the Founder and Principal A lumni 
of the Log College, by Prof. Archibald Alexander, D.D., 
Philadelphia, 1851; Terra Mariae, Philadelphia, 1867; 
Founders of Maryland, Albany, 1876; Virginia Vetusta^ 
Albany, 1885, all by the Rev. E. D. Neill, D.D. 

The author would not have ventured upon a field ap- 
parently so well cultivated, if it had not been for the dis- 
covery of original documents which were unknown to 
previous writers, and which cast a flood of light upon 
the origin and early history of American Presbyterianism. 

An examination of the writers already mentioned re- 
vealed the fact that none of them had used the sources 
of information in the MS. stores of the Libraries, Mu- 
seums, and Ecclesiastical and Missionary bodies of Great 
Britain, with the single exception of those of the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. 
Accordingly the author took advantage of a summer in 
Great Britain to explore these sources, and he was sur- 
prised at the rich harvest awaiting him. He has spared 
no time, labor, or expense in the exploration of these 
sources, and everywhere they have been opened to his 
inspection with the utmost kindness. 

We feel it to be a duty and a privilege to tell the story 
of our researches, and to render thanks where it is due. 
In Scotland, through the assistance of Prof. Alex. F. 
Mitchell, of St. Andrews, and Mr. Douglas, of Edin- 
burgh, we were enabled to search the MS. Minutes of 
the Church of Scotland, from which we have made ex- 
tracts of all the material relating to America, in two vol-, 
umes which are deposited in the library of the Union 



PREFACE. yii 

Theological Seminary, New York. We give to our 
readers several longer extracts from these records in 
the Appendix XXIX., XXX., XXXII, and XXXIII. 
Through the help of Prof. Henry Calderwood, LL.D., 
and Dr. Kennedy, Clerk of the United Presbyterian 
Church of Scotland, we explored the Minutes of the 
Associate Synods (Burger and Anti-Burger). Extracts 
will be found in the Appendix XXXII. Through the 
kindness of Prof. A. F. Mitchell, D.D., and Mr. J. W. 
Tawse, we examined very carefully the Minutes of the 
Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowl- 
edge, the fruits of which will be seen especially in Chap- 
ters VII. and VIII. We are also greatly indebted to 
John Small, M.A., Librarian of the University of Edin- 
burgh, and Mr. J. T. Clark, Keeper of the Advocates' 
Library, for free and full use of the MS. stores of these 
great treasures of learning. In the Advocates' Library 
we discovered a large amount of valuable material relat- 
ing to America, which has been carefully copied under 
the direction of Mr. Clark, and deposited in the Library 
of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. From 
these stores we publish, for the first time, five letters of 
James Anderson, the first pastor of the Presbyterian 
Church in New York City (Appendix XX.), and letters 
of George McNish, George Gillespie, William Steward, 
and Alexander Hucheson (Appendix XXI.-XXIV.). 
In Glasgow we were greatly indebted to Prof. A. B. 
Bruce, D.D., and Prof. John Young, M.D., curator of 
the Hunterian Museum, and John Young, B.Sc, for ac- 
cess to uncatalogued books and manuscripts. Here we 
discovered the letter of John Eliot of 1650, which is 
now published for the first time in Appendix IV., giv- 
ing an account of all the ministers, towns, and churches 
of New England at that period. We also owe our 
thanks to Dr. J. Marshall Lang, of Glasgow, and Dr. 



yj^ PREFACE. 

Smith, of Cathcart, for the use of the MS. records of 
the Synod of Glasgow, which revealed the strong inter- 
est of that Synod in the American Presbyterian Churches, 
and assistance in funds and in supplies of ministers at 
an earlier date and in greater measure than was previ- 
ously known. 

In London we were greatly aided by Mr. Hunter, the 
librarian of Dr. Williams' Library, who is a model of 
kindness, courtesy, and attention to the wants of stu- 
dents. In the rich collections of this great Puritan Li- 
braiy we discovered, among many other things, the letter 
of Matthew Hill to Richard Baxter, which carries back 
Presbyterianism in Maryland to 1668, and links the later 
Presbyterianism with the early Puritan emigration from 
Virginia, under the lead of the ruling elder, William 
Durand (see Appendix VHL). Through the assistance 
of Mr. Hunter and the kindness of W. D. Jeremy, Bar- 
rister, we were permitted to examine the MS. Minutes 
of the Presbyterian Fund Board and to discover therein 
the names of a number of early Presbyterian ministers 
aided by that Board on their way to America. Also 
through the effectual help of Dr. L. J. Bevan and the 
kindness of the Trustees of the Congregational Fund 
Board we were enabled to trace the origin of several 
other ministers sent out by that Board as missionaries 
to America (see Appendix XIV.). We also owe our 
thanks to Mr. Fred. Chalmers and W. M. Venning 
D.C.L., and the Governor and members of the New 
England Company, for important information with ref- 
erence to this first missionary Society of Great Britain 
(see Appendix v.). To the Rev. Dr. Baker, Head Master 
of Merchant Taylor's School, the Rev. Dr. H. W. Tucker, 
Secretary, and Mr. Charles F. Pascoe, Librarian, we are in- 
debted for the free and full use of the Minutes and Letter 
Books of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 



PREFACE. ix 

in Foreign Parts, where a considerable amount of valua- 
ble material was gathered, which is given in the Appendix 
XVL, XVII, XVIII, XIX. The author shall never 
forget the kindness and courtesy of the late Right 
Reverend Bishop of London, John Jackson, D.D., and 
the efficient help of his resident chaplain, the Rev. 
G. C. Blaxland, M. A., in the examination of the 
Fulham MSS., at the episcopal palace. The Libra- 
rian of the Lambeth Library, S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A. ; 
and E. M. Thompson, Keeper of MSS. in the British 
Museum, are renowned for their kindness and atten- 
tion to scholars. We owe them our thanks for kind 
suggestions and help. Amid the mass of unpublished 
documents of the Rolls Office, the author was so fortu- 
nate as to discover among the Maryland papers, the im- 
portant letter of Benjamin Woodbridge, from Portsmouth, 
N. H, 1690 (see Appendix XL), which gives fresh in- 
formation with reference to this city of New Hampshire, 
as well as the first Presbyterian preacher in Philadelphia. 
In Ireland our explorations were also rewarded with 
success. Through the kindness of Dr. W. Fleming Ste- 
venson and the Trustees of the Dublin General Fund, we 
obtained the rare privilege of access to their valuable 
minutes (see Appendix XV.) In Belfast, the venerable 
Prof. W. D. Killen, D.D., gave us access to the MS. 
Minutes of the Sub-Synod of Derry, and other early 
Irish documents in the Assembly's College. In Lon- 
donderry, the Professors, Thomas Croskery, D.D., and 
Thomas Witherow, D.D., placed in our hands the inval- 
uable minutes of a number of the early Irish Presby- 
teries, preserved in the McGee College, the fruits of 
which will appear in Appendix IX. and elsewhere in the 
book. In Armagh, through the kindness of the Rev. 
J. H. Orr, Stated Clerk, and the Rev. John Eliot, pastor 
of the Presbyterian church, Armagh, we consulted the 



X PREFACE. 

MS. Minutes of the Synod of Ulster, from which a con- 
siderable amount of fresh information was derived. 

In the United States, we have been greatly indebt- 
ed to George Moore, LL.D., Superintendent of the 
Lenox Library, for the use of the treasures of that rich- 
est library in America ; as also for the use of two letters 
of Francis Makemie, never before published (Appendix 
X., 3 and 4), and other material, in addition to his val- 
ued counsel. To D. McN. Stauffer, Esq., we are indebt- 
ed for the privilege of consulting the most precious of 
all the letters of Francis Makemie, which is given in Ap- 
pendix X. 5. Latimer Bailey, Esq., clerk of the Session 
of the First Presbyterian church, N. Y., kindly gave us 
repeated access to the records of the Trustees and Ses- 
sion, the fruit of which will appear in the book. The 
Rev. James W. Mcllvaine, of Baltimore, has earned our 
thanks for furnishing the deed of gift of Ninian Beal 
(Appendix XIL) and other information resulting from 
his own researches. 

We are also indebted to the Librarians of the Mas- 
sachusetts Historical Society, the Boston PubHc Library, 
the Harvard College Library, the American Antiquarian 
Society, the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and the 
New York Historical Society, for transcripts of rare 
tracts and manuscripts. 

In mentioning these, the chief sources of help, we would 
not be unmindful of a large number of other friends who 
have given us assistance in various ways too numerous 
to mention. We can only express our gratitude to one 
and all. Without the help so kindly and freely offered 
everywhere in Great Britain and America this work could 
never have been written. 

We have not hesitated to use in the preparation of 
this book the material already given to the public in a 
number of articles published in periodicals from time to 



PREFACE. xi 

time. It will suffice to mention, the Documentary His- 
tory of the Westminster Assembly ^ Presbyterian Review^ 
January, 1880 ; the Provincial Assembly of London^ Pres- 
byterian Review, January, 1881 ; the Principles of Puri- 
tanism, Presbyterian Review, October, 1884, (originally 
given as an address at Airedale College, England, but 
revised and enlarged for the Review^ ; Puritanism in New 
York in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Ceftturies, in 
the Magazine of American History, January, 1885 ; and 
occasional articles in several religious journals. These 
may all be considered as preparatory to the present 
work. 

The author has diligently sought for original authori- 
ties, and has based his work upon them. He has been 
greatly favored in the discovery of a considerable amount 
of new materialjwhich modifies in many important respects 
prevailing views as to the origin and early history of Amer- 
ican Presbyterianism. He has, therefore, given his au- 
thorities very largely in foot-notes and in the Appendix, 
and by references to material which could not be intro- 
duced without overloading the book. No one will rejoice 
more than the author at the discovery of any material 
that may have escaped his attention. As he has been 
obliged by the evidence to change his opinion respecting 
several parts of the history, he will be ready to modify 
it still further in the light of additional evidence. 

Two maps have been prepared ; the one giving the 
names of all the settlements in the American colonies 
where there were Presbyterian churches already organ- 
ized, or in process of formation at the close of the sev- 
enteenth century, at the beginning of the book ; the 
other giving all the towns mentioned by John Eliot in 
his Description of New England in 1650, with the letter 
in Appendix IV. 

The author will be grateful if in any way his book 



Xii PREFACE. 

may stimulate the young ministers of America to histor- 
ical research in the fields where Providence has placed 
them. He is convinced that there is still further light 
to break forth from early MS. records and letters upon 
the origin and early history of the various Christian 
Churches of America. 

This book was conceived in a catholic spirit and has 
been written upon a comprehensive plan. The growth 
of American Presbyterianism through internal and exter- 
nal struggles cannot be understood apart from the relig- 
ious development of Great Britain. The religious move- 
ments in Great Britain were immediately reflected in 
America. The author has endeavored to trace these 
movements in their origin in the mother country and 
their development in the lands of their birth and to fol- 
low them across the ocean in their influences upon the 
young colonial churches. 

There are several types of Presbyterianism. It has 
been our aim to give these adequate representation 
whenever they came naturally in the line of our investi- 
gation. We have not thought it necessary to discuss 
the different theories of Presbyterianism at the outset. 
The American Reformed Churches have come into view 
in their relations to the American Presbyterian Churches 
of British stock. It was not our purpose to give a his- 
tory of these Churches. For an adequate history of the 
Dutch Reformed Church we may refer to Dr. E. T. Cor- 
win's Manual ; and for a thorough study of the French 
Reformed ministers and Churches, to the History of the 
Huguenot Emigration to America, by Dr. C. W. Baird, 
now in press. A satisfactory history of the American 
German Reformed Church is still a desideratum. 

It has also been necessary to discuss the conflicts of 
Presbyterianism with other religious bodies in Great 
Britain and America. In all these discussions it has been 



PREFACE. xiii 

the desire and purpose of the author to be just and kind 
to all denominations and to all parties. He has not hesi- 
tated to condemn error, sin, and partisanship wherever 
he has found it. Union cannot be purchased at the 
sacrifice of truth or principle. We have no sympathy 
with those who magnify differences, nor with those who 
would reduce them to a minimum. We desire the or- 
ganic union of all branches of the Presbyterian family 
in a broad, comprehensive, generous, catholic Presby- 
terianism. This can never be accomplished by the sup- 
pression of differences or by abstinence from their dis- 
cussion. The liberty and the variety are as important 
as the unity and the conformity to a common order. 
True union is the combination of these centripetal and 
centrifugal forces. 

We are also hopeful of a combination of Protestant- 
ism and the ultimate reunion of Christendom. We are 
sincerely attached to American Presbyterianism as the 
religion of our ancestors — we believe that it is in advance 
of all other Christian denominations in the realization 
of the ideal of Christianity ; but Presbyterianism is not 
a finality. It is the stepping-stone to something higher 
and grander yet to come, when the Spirit of God shall 
be poured out in richer measure and in more abounding 
gifts and graces upon the Christian world, in order to a 
revival of religion which will transcend the Protestant 
Reformation by its omnipotent energy and world-wide 
sweep. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Rise of Presbyterianism in Europe, p. i. 

I. Presbyterianism and Christianity, p. 5 ; II. Presbyterianism and 
Catholicity, p. ii ; III. Presbyterianisjn and Orthodoxy, p. 14; 
IV. Presbyterianism and Protestantism, p. 1 9 ; V. Presbyte- 
rianism and Puritanism, p. 26 ; VI. Presbyterianism a7td 
Prelacy, p. 40. 

CHAPTER II. 

The Struggle of Presbyterianism for Supremacy in 
Great Britain, p. 48. 

I. William Laud, dictator of the British Churches, "p. ^o\ II. The 
Solemn League and Covenant, p. 55; III. The Westminster 
Assembly, p. 61 ; IV. The Provincial Assembly of London, 
p. 68 ; V. Presbyterianism and Independency, p. 73 ; VI. Pres- 
byterianis7n and Episcopacy, p. 79. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Rise of Presbyterianism in America, p. 87. 

I. Presbyterianism in the Bermudas, p. 88 ; II. In New England, 
p. 92; III. In New York, p. 99 ; IV. In Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, p. 109; V. In New Jersey,^. 121 ; VI. In Pennsylva- 
nia and Delaware, p. 123 ; VII. In South Carolina, p. 127. 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Presbytery of Philadelphia, 1706-1716, p. 132, 

I. The Presbyterian Missionary Societies, -p. 132; II. The Episco- 
pal Missionary Societies, p. 136; III. The Orgajtization of the 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, '^. 139; IV. The St rtiggle of Pres- 
byterianism with Episcopacy in New York, p. 143 ; V. The 
Growth of the Presbytery, p. 158; VI. The Presbytery aided 
from Great Britain, p. 161. 

(XV) 



xyj CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

The Synod of Philadelphia, 171 7-1 729, p. 174. 

I. The Synod's " Fund for Pious Uses," p. 174; II. The Puritans 
of New York and New Jersey unite with the Synod, p. 1 76 ; 

III. Large accession of Irish Presbyterians, p. 184; IV. Re- 
cruits from England and Scotland, p. 191 ; V. The Subscript 
tion Controversy in Great Britain, p. 194; VI. The Subscrip- 
tion Controversy in the Synod of Philadelphia, p. 208 ; VII. 
The Adopting Act, p. 216. 

CHAPTER VI. 

American Presbyterianism Divided, p. 222. 

I. The Division of Presbyteria7iis7n in Carolina, p. 222 ; II. In 
New Engla?td, p. 228; III. The First Heresy Trial, p. 230; 

IV. The Struggle for strict Subscription, p. 235 ; V. The Rise 
of Methodisjn, p. 238 ; VI. The Struggle for a Godly Minis- 
try, p. 242 ; VII. The Great Awakening, p. 250 ; VIII. The 
Rupture of the Synod, p. 261. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Several Types of American Presbyterianism, p. 273. 

I. The Covenajiters in America, p. 272 ; II. The Burger and Anti- 
Burger Presbyterians in America, p. 276 ; III. The Ujtion of 
British, Dutch, and German Presbyterianism Frustrated, 
p. 284 ; IV. Extension of Presbyteriajiism into Virginia and 
North Carolina, p. 289 ; V. Missioits amotig the American 
Indians, p. 297 ; VI. The Establishjnent of Presbyterian In- 
stitutions of Learning, p. 304; VII. Institutions of Learning 
among the Reformed Churches, p. 311 ; VIII. The Growth of 
the Synods from 174.2-17 ^g, p. 313. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Synod of New York and Philadelphia, 1758-1775, 

P- 317. 

I. The Plan of Union, p. 318 ; II. Missionary E?tte?'prises, p. 322 ; 
III. Growth in the Southern Colonies, p. 328 ; IV. In the 
Middle Colonies, p. 330 ; V. In New England, p. 334 ; VI. 
Efforts for Union with the Seceders, p. 338; VII. The Re- 
union of the Refor?ned Churches, p. 341. 



CONTENTS. xvii 

CHAPTER IX. 

Presbyterianism and the American Revolution, p. 344. 

I. The Presbyterians engage in the Struggle for American Inde- 
pendence, p. 347 ; II. The Presbyteria7i gain a?td loss by the 
Revoliitio7i, p. 352 ; III. Efforts to tmite the Presbyteriajt and 
Reformed Churches, p. 357 ; IV. The Organization of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, p. 362. 



THE APPENDIX. 

I. The Book of Discipline of the Elizabethan Presbyterians, 
p. i. 
II. Archbishop Usshers Reduction of Episcopacy under the 
form of Synodical Government, p. xvii. 

III. Presbyteria7tism in New England in the seventeenth 

century, p. xxiii. 

IV. Johti Eliofs Description of New England in 1650, 

p. xxix. 
V. The New England Company, p. xxxvi. 
VI. Order for the Reinstatemejtt of Thomas Harrison, p. xl. 
VII. Matthew Hill's Certificate of Ordination, p. xl. 
VIII. Matthew Hill's Letter to Richard Baxter, 1669, p. xli. 
IX. The Early Life and Training of pyancis Makemie, 

p. xliv. 
X. Letters of Francis Makemie, p. xlv. 
Xl. A Further Account of Benfajnin Woodbridge, with his 

Letter from Portsmouth, N. H., 1690, p. 1. 
XII. Ninian BeaVs Deed of Land for the Patuxent Church, 
p. Hi. 

XIII. Separatioji of the Baptists fro7n the Presbyterians in 

Philadelphia, 1698, p. liv. 

XIV. The Londo7t General Fu7id of 1690, p. Ivi. 
XV. The Dublin General Fu7td, p. lix. 

XVI. The Society for Pro7noti7ig Christ ia7t K7iowledge, p. Ix. 



Xviii CONTENTS. 

XVII. Joseph Morgan's Letter of iJiZ, p. Ixi. 
XVIII. The Puritan Churches of New York at the beginning 
of the eighteenth century, p. Ixiv. 
XIX. PresbyteriaJtisin in South Carolina at the beginning of 

the eighteenth century, p. Ixvii. 
XX. Letters of James Anderson, p. Ixx. 
XXI. Letter of George McNish, 171 8, p. Ixxxiii. 
XXII. Letter of George Gillespie, 1723, p. Ixxxiv. 

XXIII. Letter of Willia^n Steward, 1726, p. Ixxxvi. 

XXIV. Letter of Alexa7tder Hucheson, 1724, p. Ixxxvii. 
XXV. Charges against Professor Simson, p. Ixxxviii. 

XXVI. Certificate of the Ordination of Nathan Bassett, p. Ixxxix. 
XXVII. The Protestation presented to the Synod of Philadelphia 

in 1 74 1, p. xc. 
XXVIII. Letter of the Synod of Philadelphia to President Clap, 
p. xcvii. 
XXIX. Act for a Collection for the College of New Jersey, 
p. ci. 
XXX. Action of the Church of Scotland for the help of the 
German Reforined Churches of Pennsylvania, p. civ. 
XXXI. The Plan of Union, 1758, p. cviii. 

XXXII. The Collections in Scotland for the poor and distressea 
Presbyterian tninisters in Pennsylvania, p. cxii. 
XXXIII. Correspondence between the Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia^ and the General Assembly of the Church 
of Scotland, 1770, p. cxix. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 

Presbyterianism is a system of church government 
by presbyters. It is thereby distinguished from the other 
systems of church government, the papal, the prelatical, 
the consistorial, and the congregational. In the papal 
system, the authority over the church is in the Roman 
Catholic hierarchy, culminating in the pope at Rome. 
In the prelatical system the government of the church 
is in the hands of prelates, or diocesan bishops. This is 
the method of the Greek and other Oriental Churches, 
of the Church of England, and of her daughters. Sev- 
eral varieties of this system are found in different lands 
and in the successive periods of history. The consistorial 
system was adopted by the most of the churches of the 
Lutheran Reformation. These churches were governed 
by consistories appointed by the princes or other civil 
authorities. The congregational system lodges the gov- 
ernment of the church in the congregation itself, which 
is composed of a number of believers associated '^ by way 
of a church covenant." This method makes every con- 
gregation independent in its government ; the churches 
are associated only for advice, and co-operation in pub- 
lic affairs. In the presbyterian system all ecclesiastical 
authority is in the body of presbyters, called by Christ 
and ordained by presbyters to rule over the church. 
These presbyters are associated for the purposes of gov- 
ernment in congregational Presbyteries, classical Presby= 



2 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

teries, provincial Synods, national Assemblies, and oecu- 
menical Councils. The larger bodies are superior in 
authority to the smaller, in an ascending grade. 

Presbyterianism does not claim that the presbyters of 
any branch of the Church of Christ have the exclusive 
authority over the church. It recognizes the ordained 
presbyters of the congregational and consistorial sys- 
tems. It recognizes that the pope and the prelates are 
presbyters, but declines to recognize them as of a higher 
order than presbyters. For presbyters are the genuine 
bishops of the New Testament, and the true apostolic 
succession is in the presbyters who have been ordained 
by the apostles and their successors from the founda- 
tions of the Christian Church until the present time. 
This was admirably set forth by the Provincial Assem- 
bly of London in 1654 : 

" Ordination is an act of office received from Christ, and is not 
Antichristian, though executed by one that is in other things 
Antichristian. We do not re-baptize them that were baptized 
by a popish priest, because the power of God's ordinance depends 
not on the person that does execute the same, but upon an higher 
foundation, the institution of Christ. Ministerial acts are not 
vitiated or made null, though they passe through the hands of 
bad men ; but stand good to all intents and purposes to such as 
receive them aright, by vertue of their office authoritatively de- 
rived from the first institution. A Bishop in his Presbyterial 
capacity hath divine right to ordain, and therefore his ordination 
is valid, though it be granted that he is Antichristian in his Epis- 
copal capacity." ( The Divine Right of the Gospel-Ministry, Lon- 
don, 1654. II., p. 29.) 

" We say that ordination of ministers by ministers is no Romish 
institution, but instituted by the Lord Jesus himself long before 
Antichrist was ; that our ministry is descended to us from Christ 
through the Apostate Church of Rome, but not from the Apostate 
Church of Rojne." II., p. 33. " It is certain that the Church of 
Rojne was a true church in the apostles' days, when the faith of it 
was spread throughout the world, and it is as certain that after- 
wards, by little and little, it spostatized, till at last Antichrist set 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 3 

up his throne in that church. And yet still we must distinguish 
between the church and the apostasie of it ; between the corn 
and the tares that are in it." II., p. 38. " When the Protestant 
Churches did separate they did not erect a new church, but re- 
formed a corrupt church. And, therefore, ours is called the 
Protestant Reformed Religion." II., p. 40. " It hath pleased 
God out of his infinite wisdom and providence to continue the 
two great ordinances of baptism and ordination sound for the 
substantials of them in the Church oi Rome, even in their great- 
est apostacy. We deny not but they have been exceedingly be- 
muddled and corrupted. Baptism, with very many superstitious 
ceremonies, as of oyl, spittle, crossings, etc. ; Ordination, with 
giving power to the party ordained to make the body of Christ, 
etc. But yet the substantials have been preserved. Children 
were baptized with water in the name of the Father, the Son, 
and Holy Ghost. And the parties ordained had power given 
them to Preach the Word of God. Now the Protestant Religion 
doth not teach us to renounce Baptism received in the Church 
of Rome, neither is a Papist, when converted Protestant, re-bap- 
tized. Nor doth it teach us simply and absolutely to renounce 
ordination ; but it deals with it as the jewes were to do with a 
captive maid when they had a mind to marrie her. They must 
shave her head and pare her nailes and put the raiment of her 
captivity from off her, and then take her to wife. So doth the 
Protestant Reformed Religion. It distinguisheth between the 
ordinances of God and the corruptions cleaving unto the ordi- 
nances. It washeth away all the defilements and pollutions con- 
tracted in the Church of Rome, both from Baptism and Ordina- 
tion, but it doth not renounce either the one or the other." II., 
p. 41. "Our ministry is derived to us from Christ and his apos- 
tles by succession of a ministry continued in the church for 1,600 
years. We have (i) a lineal succession from Christ and his 
Apostles ; (2) not onely a lineal succession, but that w^hich is 
more, and without which the lineal is of no benefit, we have a 
doctrinal succession also." II., p. 45. 

Every denomination of Christians is under some one 
of these systems of church government ; but it is only 
in Great Britain and her colonies that the divisions of 
Christ's Church are distinguished by names which indi- 
cate their church polity. This is owing to the conflicts 



4 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

of British Christianity in the seventeenth century. The 
Reformed Churches of the continent of Europe and 
their daughters in America employ the Presbyterian 
form of government no less than the British Presbyte- 
rian Churches ; but they prefer the name Reformed, 
which indicates their type of doctrine. The Presbyte- 
rian form of government has also been adopted by the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, by the 
Evangelical Churches of Germany, and by other religious 
bodies, which differ from the Presbyterian Churches in 
many important particulars. Presbyterian, under present 
circumstances, is a very inadequate term to characterize 
the Churches which bear the name ; for Presbyterian- 
ism is vastly more than a system of church government : 
it embraces distinguishing features of doctrine, worship, 
and life. 

There are several phases of Presbyterianism, a num- 
ber of different types of the general system. It is neces- 
sary to keep this distinctly in mind, for there is a constant 
tendency in particular types and special phases to claim 
exclusive rights and privileges. It is important to dis- 
tinguish the essential features of the Presbyterian family 
from the peculiarities which belong to particular lands 
and special denominations and parties. It is not un- 
common, in the stress of controversy, to see the merely 
accidental and occasional features of an aggressive party 
assume the place of the essential features which belong 
to the whole family. There are features which deter- 
mine all genuine Presbyterianism, and there are types 
which are the complements of one another as the legiti- 
mate children of the Presbyterian family. It is wrong 
to disregard the unity in the essential features. It is 
also wrong to neglect the variety in the several legiti- 
mate types of the children of Presbyterianism. 

Presbyterianism belongs to the modern age of the 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 5 

world, to the British type of Protestantism ; but it is 
not a departure from the Christianity of the ancient and 
mediaeval Church. It is rather the culmination of the 
development of Christianity from the times of the apos- 
tles until the present day. It comprehends the genuine 
Christianity of all ages. It conserves all the achieve- 
ments of the Christian Church. It leads the van of the 
advancing host of God. It makes steady progress 
towards the realization of the ideal of Christianity in 
the golden age of the Messiah. 

I. — PRESBYTERIANISM AND CHRISTIANITY. 

Presbyterian ism is pre-eminently Christian. It main- 
tains that all religion, doctrines, and morals should be 
rooted in the Christianity of Christ and his apostles. 
It is not sufficient that, with the Roman Catholic, there 
should be an appeal to the authority of the Church of 
Rome. The authority of the ante-Nicene Church is not 
decisive to the Presbyterian as it is to the Anglo-Catholic. 
The Presbyterian presses back, with the Reformers, to 
Christ and the New Testament for the only infaUible 
authority for doctrine and practice. 

The Presbyterian does not lack the historic spirit, but 
he is suspicious of tradition, and critical in his attitude 
towards traditional usages. He insists that every gen- 
uine Christian doctrine and usage must find its historic 
origin and authority in the words of Christ and his apos-; 
ties. He recognizes the office of the Church in Christian 
History to appropriate the Christianity of Christ in her 
life and experience, as she grows in grace under the 
guidance of the Holy Spirit. But he also recognizes that 
the Church has not been faithful to the ideal, — has not 
been normal in her development ; that there has been a 
mixture of good and evil ; that there has been growth in 
grace, but that there have also been unfaithfulness, per- 



g AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

versity, and apostasy. It is necessary, therefore, to dis- 
criminate between the work of the Spirit in the Church 
and the work of the flesh ; between genuine historical 
Christianity and spurious traditional Christianity ; be- 
tween the real achievements of the Church and the cor- 
ruptions into which she has been seduced. 

The Scriptures are, and ever must remain, the touch- 
stone and infallible test of the Church, the norm of its 
legitimate development, the line of the Great Architect 
for the erection of its structure. The Church is not the 
master over the Scriptures, but the Scriptures give the 
law to the Church. Presbyterianism does not recognize 
the authority of the Church to define infallibly what 
is Scripture or what is the teaching of Scripture. It 
declines to concede to the Church such a right to make 
the canon or to interpret it. The Scriptures contain in 
themselves the assurance of their own canonicity. The 
Scriptures bear with them their infallible interpretation. 
John Wiclif said that " the Holy Spirit teacheth us the 
sense of Scripture as Christ opened the Scripture to his 
apostles." This became the characteristic doctrine of 
Tyndale, Hooper, Knox, Cartwright, and of the Puritan 
type of Protestantism, and it received symbolic expres- 
sion in the Westminster Confession."^ The Presbyterian 
churches in their creeds define the canon, and interpret 
the Scriptures in decisions as to questions of faith, order, 
and practice ; but at the same time they recognize that 
they themselves may be in error even in these defini- 
tions. 

"All Synods or Councils since the apostles' times, whether 
general or particular, may err, and many have erred ; therefore 
they are not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be 
used as a help in both." ( West7ninster Confession, xxxi. 2, 3.) 

" The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the 

* Westmijtster Confession^ i. 4-10. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 7 

Word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience." {West- 
minster Larger Catechism, question iii.) 

The Presbyterian churches exalt the Scriptures above 
the Church, and urge that Christian men and Christian 
assemblies should wait upon God and listen for the voice 
of his Spirit speaking infallibly in his Word. 

Presbyterianism thus firmly plants itself on the rock 
of ages, the original Christianity of Christ. At the same 
time it guards itself from Mysticism and every form of 
Anabaptism. It declines to break with historical Chris- 
tianity. It declines to seek new revelations of the Spirit. 
The Spirit of God interprets to the Church not a neiv 
Christianity, but the Christianity of Christ. The Spirit 
of God interprets the Word of God, the charter of the 
Church in all ages, and does not give new revelations, 
either in the form of additions to the Word, or of modi- 
fications of the Word. The Holy Spirit has been the 
guide of the Church in all ages, and will guide the Church 
to the end of the world, giving it the ability to appro- 
priate in its life and character in greater fulness and rich- 
ness the Christianity of the New Testament. The Spirit 
of God holds the Word of God before the eyes of the 
Christian world, that it may see therein how far it has 
grown in grace, and how far it has declined into sin 
and error, and how sadly it has failed of its high calling 
in Christ Jesus. Presbyterianism applies this test to all" 
Christian history, and recognizes through all time the 
work of the Holy Spirit in the progress of the Church in 
the normal development of Christianity. At the same 
time it declines to compromise itself with the corrup- 
tions of the ancient and mediaeval Church in faith and 
in practice. 

Christ is the enthroned king and saviour of the Church, 
the sole source of its gifts and graces, and the arbiter of 
its destinies. It has been the peculiar of^ce of Presby- 



g AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

terianism to contend in a life and death struggle for the 
crown rights of Jesus Christ. The Church is the king- 
dom of Jesus Christ. 

" Christ hath given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of 
God for the gathering and perfect'ng of the saints in this life to 
the end of the world ; and doth by his own presence and Spirit, 

according to his promise, make them effectual thereunto 

There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ." 
( Westminster Confession, xxv. 3, 6.) 

Thus Presbyterianism exalts the Christianity of Jesus 
Christ above the Christianity of the ancient and the me- 
diaeval Church as the ultimate, the real Christianity ; as 
the model after which all historical Christianity is to be 
reformed, and to which it is to be assimilated. It en- 
thrones Christ above Christianity as the only king and 
saviour. If the Presbyterian Church is not the most 
Christian of all the Churches of Christendom, it is not 
the fault of its theory, but of lis practice. It has the true 
apostolic succession in striving after the apostolic faith 
in its purity, integrity, and fulness. 

Presbyterianism represents a real, a //z'/;/^ Christianity. 
It did not battle for the crown rights of Christ and then 
restrict them by General Assembly and Presbytery. It 
did not dethrone the Roman pontiff and the prelates 
of Great Britain in order to enthrone Presbytery in their 
place. If there was room for the complaint that, Presby- 
ter was " priest writ large," it was a fault in the practice of 
Presbyterianism, and not in its theory. Ecclesiasticism 
appears in the history of Presbyterianism, but it is alien 
to its spirit and its principles. True Presbyterianism is 
a living organism looking to the enthroned Christ as 
king, and waiting on his royal word. True Presbyterian- 
ism is an organism of divine grace under the guidance 
and efficacious working of the Spirit of God. 

There may be the outward forms of Presbyterianism 



THE RISE OF PRESBITERIANISM IN EUROPE. 9 

without the Presbyterian spirit. There may be Presby- 
terian doctrines without Presbyterian principles. There 
may be Presbyterian forms of worship without Presby- 
terian Hfe and piety. There is ground in some quarters 
for the complaint that Presbyterianism needs to be Chris- 
tianized. We would rather say that a formal Presby- 
terianism needs quickening by the Spirit of God, that 
it may be a real Presbyteriayiism. Ecclesiasticism and 
scholasticism have in some places taken away its liberty, 
its freshness, its spontaneity and energy, and have threat- 
ened its life. Presbyterianism is casting off this scholas- 
ticism and ecclesiasticism in order to a clearer appre- 
hension of its own essential principles, and to a better 
realization of its real spirit in an aggressive and progress- 
ive Christianity. 

Presbyterianism has been too often represented by 
spurious types which were not born of Presbyterianism, 
but were the children of Anabaptism. The Presbyterian 
principle recognizes the supremacy of the Holy Spirit in 
the Scriptures, but declines to imprison his divine energy 
in its external form and letter. Presbyterianism did not 
reject the authority of the papal church and the prelat- 
ical church, in order to establish the authority of a 
Presbyterian church. It did not make the Bible supreme 
as a book, but as the living word of the living God. It 
did not bind itself to a written book, but to the Holy 
Spirit, who uses the Bible (written or spoken) as a means 
of grace. Presbyterianism recognizes the enthroned 
Christ as the source of Christianity to every age. The 
Word of God is the " sceptre of his kingdom," and divinely 
called presbyters are his officers, commissioned to gov- 
ern the Church with his authority and in his fear. 

It never was a legitimate Presbyterian principle to 
confine worship, doctrine, and practice to the express 
command of Scripture. It was a perversion of the Prcs- 



10 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

byterlan principle which required a " Thus saith the 
Lord " for every precept and every practice. This was 
a mark of the separating Anabaptists and Brownists, and 
not of the Presbyterians. Presbyterians follow not only 
what is " expressly set down in Scripture," but also what 
" by good and necessary consequence may be deduced 
from Scripture." The teachings of Scripture are far- 
reaching and vastly comprehensive : 

"We acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of 
God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things 
as are revealed in the Word ; and there are some circumstances 
concerning the worship of God and government of the Church, 
common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered 
by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the 
general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed." 
{IVesfmz'nsfer Co7ifession, I., 6.) 

The Holy Spirit guides in the application of the prin- 
ciples of Scripture to all the circumstances of Christi- 
anity in the successive ages of the Church. The light 
of nature and Christian prudence do not conflict with 
the teaching of Scripture, but take their place in subor- 
dination to the voice of the Spirit in the Scripture, and 
co-operate for the establishment of Christianity in the 
world. Those who refuse to recognize the use of the 
light of nature and Christian prudence in the circum- 
stantials of religion, and restrict Presbyterian order and 
worship and life to the express words of Scripture, have 
abandoned Presbyterian principles, and have gone over 
to the side of the separating Anabaptists and Brown- 
ists of the seventeenth centur}^ 

The Holy Spirit interprets the Scripture to the be- 
liever, and especially to the divinely called presbyters 
of the Church. He turns the light of the Scriptures 
upon every circumstance with interpreting application. 
It is not the external letter of the Scripture, but the in- 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. H 

st ruction which pervades it; and it is not so much the 
instruction itself as the distribution of that instruction 
by the Holy Spirit, and his appropriate application of it 
to every time, place, and circumstance. 

Presbyterianism is a religious system which is animate 
with the influences of the Divine Spirit. Christ is pres- 
ent in it as its enthroned Sovereign and Saviour. It is 
a real Christianity which rejects everything that is not a 
product of the Christianity of Jesus Christ. It appro- 
priates everything in every age of the Church which 
bears the impress of Christ and which represents the 
power of his Spirit. 

II. — PRESBYTERIANISM AND CATHOLICITY. 

The term Catholic indicates the common features of 
Christianity — those characteristics of the religion of Jesus 
Christ which are to be found semper ubique et ab omnibus. 
This universality is not absolute ; for there are those 
who bear the Christian name who are not Christians at 
all. It is a general and relative universality — wherever 
the true religion of Jesus Christ is found, whenever 
Christianity as such exists, and in all real Christians. 

The Christian Church, from the earliest times, has 
been troubled by error, heresy, and spurious forms of 
Christianity. Some of these are essential, and destroy 
the marks of the true Church ; others are unessential, 
and indicate more or less important variations from the 
true doctrine and practice. We must distinguish be- 
tween orthodoxy and catholicity. Orthodoxy represents 
the whole sphere of Christian doctrine ; catholicity rep- 
resents only the common features of Christianity. The 
Presbyterian Churches are in this respect pre-eminently 
catholic. They adhere to all the doctrinal achievements 
of the ancient Church — the catholic doctrines of the 
Trinity, the Person of Christ, and the office of the Holy 



12 AMERICAN PRESBTTEPvIANISM. 

Spirit. They do not adopt the peculiarities of the Greek 
or the Roman or any other branch of the Christian 
Church, whether in doctrine or practice : for these pecu- 
liarities are not catholic. Presbyterianism is truest to 
catholicity in that it insists upon those things which are 
truly catholic, and declines to mingle with them other 
things which are not catholic. 

The claims of the Greek Church to be catholic in 
those features which distinguish it from the Roman 
Church, rob catholicity of its meaning. The claims of 
the Roman Church to be catholic in those features which 
separate it from the Greek and Oriental and Protestant 
Churches, can be maintained only by forging a spurious 
catholicity. When catholicity is extended so as to cover 
not only the great Christian Creeds and Councils, but also 
the great body of the Christian Fathers, it is found nec- 
essary to limit these Fathers to those who were ortho- 
dox, and so confound catholicity with orthodoxy. It is 
also necessary to explain these Fathers in an unnatural 
sense, and so do violence to the principles of interpreta- 
tion. A consensus can be obtained only by a falsifica- 
tion of Christian history. The claims of the Anglo- 
Catholic party in the Church of England to a peculiar 
catholicity are so specious that they are hardly worthy 
of consideration. There is no propriety in limiting the 
catholic consensus to the Ante-Nicene Church, and such 
a consensus can be obtained only by false methods of 
interpretation. It is necessary, therefore, to distinguish 
between the spurious catholicity of the Greek and Ro- 
man Churches and the Anglo-Catholic party on the one 
hand, and the genuine catholicity of Protestantism, and 
especially of Presbyterianism, on the other. Presbyte- 
rianism limits catholicity to the truly catholic features 
of the Church of Christ, which are found alike in the , 
Greek and Roman and Protestant branches of Christen- 



THE RISE OF PRESBYIEIIIANISM IN EUROPE. I3 

dom. It does not claim catholicity for its distinctive 
features. It is faithful to the ideal of catholicity, and 
therefore is in the highest and best sense catholic. 

Presbyterianism does not, however, ascribe to catho- 
licity independent authority. It does not recognize the 
Creeds and Councils of the ancient Church because they 
are ancient, or because they are oecumenical and catholic. 
It sees in these catholic features of the Church the fea- 
tures of Christ and his Christianity. It sees in the an- 
cient afifirmations of doctrine, reaffirmations of the teach- 
ings of Christ and his apostles in forms suited to the 
issues of the times, to resist and overcome the anti- 
Christian heresies which troubled the ancient Church. 
It recognizes them because they were legitimate prod- 
ucts of Christianity, not because they were the opinions 
of the Fathers or the Councils. It follows the Councils 
because they followed Christ. It honors Athanasius be- 
cause Athanasius honored Christ. 

But Presbyterianism declines to follow even Athana- 
sius into error. It discriminates between his catholic 
doctrines and practices and his individual peculiarities, 
which do not represent genuine Christianity. It elimi- 
nates the historical Christianity of the Fathers, which 
was truly catholic, from the local and circumstantial 
singularities and errors, which spring from the carnal 
nature of the best of men, and from the worldliness of 
the purest of churches. It declines to ascribe inspiration 
to the Fathers, so as to make them the equal of the 
apostles and prophets. It refuses to force unnatural 
meanings upon the statements of the Fathers, in order 
to remove inadequacy and error. It recognizes that the 
Fathers were guided by the Holy Spirit in the decision of 
the great questions given them to solve for the Church of 
all ages, but that they were left to themselves, to their hu- 
man wisdom and the light of nature, in all other matters. 



l^ AMERICAN PEESBYTERIANISM. 

Presbyterianism is pre-eminently catholic, because it 
presents all the genuine features of catholicity, and de- 
clines to recognize anything as catholic which is uncath- 
olic. The Roman and Greek Churches and the Anglo- 
Catholic party are not so catholic, because they make 
uncatholic opinions and practices the tests of catholicity. 

" The cathoHc or universal Church, which is invisible, consists 
of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be 
gathered into one, under Christ, the Head thereof ; and is the 
spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. The 
visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the 
Gospel (not confined to one nation as before, under the law), 
consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true 
religion, together with their children ; and is the kingdom of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which 

there is no ordinary possibility of salvation This catholic 

Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less, visible. 
And particular churches, which are members thereof, are more 
or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught 
and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship per- 
formed more or less purely in them. The purest churches under 
heaven are subject both to mixture and error : and some have so 
degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues 
of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall always be a Church on earth 
to worship God according to his will." ( Wesfjmnster Cojifessz'on, 
XXV. I, 2, 4, and 5). 

III. — PRESBYTERIANISM AND ORTHODOXY. 

Orthodoxy is right thinking about the Christian re- 
ligion. It is a broader term than Catholicity^ There is 
a gradation in Christian doctrine. The development of 
doctrine in the ancient Church was essential to the be- 
ing of the Church of Christ. This was the first stage of 
the structure of Christianity upon which everything de- 
pends. The doctrinal development of the Latin Church 
was the second stage in the advancement of Christen- 
dom. But this stage was not achieved by the Eastern 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROrE. 15 

Churches. It was the special task of the Western Church. 
The achievements in doctrine of this second stage of 
Christianity cannot be regarded as catholic without ex- 
cluding the Greek and Oriental Churches from Christi- 
anity. They are, however, the tests of orthodoxy, and 
are essential to the well-being of the Church when the 
issue has been fairly joined on the burning questions of 
Latin Christianity. The Greek and Oriental Churches 
represent an immature Christianity ; but they are cath- 
olic. They bear the traits of Christianity ; but they are 
not orthodox. 

The doctrinal achievements of the Latin Church were 
the Augustinian doctrines of sin and of grace over against 
Pelagianism, and Anselm's doctrine of the Atonement. 
Presbyterianism is in these respects pre-eminently or- 
thodox. It is the heir of all the doctrinal decisions of 
the Christian Church ; but the doctrinal achievements of 
Latin Christianity are peculiarly its inheritance. 

The Augustinian doctrines of sin and grace were aban- 
doned by that section of the Western Church which 
declined to be reformed, — the Reformers were Augus- 
tinian : the contra-Reformation was semi-Pelagian. The 
Anselmic doctrine of the Atonement was abandoned by 
the unreformed Church of Rome for the weaker views 
of Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus ; but the Reform- 
ers were faithful to the doctrine of Anselm. The unre- 
formed Roman Catholic Church declined into hetero- 
doxy; the Protestant Reformers maintained their ortho- 
doxy, and built the Protestant Churches of Northern Eu- 
rope on the doctrinal basis of Augustine and Anselm. 

The Lutheran branch of the Reformation emphasized 
the Augustinian doctrine of sin ; the Reformed the Au- 
gustinian doctrine of grace. Luther was himself faithful 
to the Augustinian doctrine of grace, but the Lutherans 
generally declined from it into weaker views, owing to 



IQ AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

their inadequate conception of the means of grace. The 
Reformed Church maintained the purest Augustinian- 
ism, and advanced the doctrine of the divine grace to 
a better definition under the guidance of the masterly 
Calvin. This brought about a conflict between Calvin- 
ists and Arminians. The Arminians reacted towards 
semi-Pelagianism ; but the Calvinists gave Augustinian- 
ism a purer expression and a nobler form. The Presby- 
terian Churches of Great Britain were pre-eminently Cal- 
vinistic. All the Reformers were faithful to the An- 
selmic doctrine of the Atonement ; but they improved it 
in its application to man in accordance with the peculiar 
problems given them to solve over against Socinianism 
and Romanism. The Presbyterians of Great Britain 
were in entire accord with these Reformers. They stere- 
otyped these doctrines in the Westminster symbols, which 
still remain as the tests of orthodoxy throughout the 
Presbyterian world. 

The Roman Catholic Church set up other tests of or- 
thodoxy, and claimed submission to its authority as the 
supreme orthodoxy. But there is no such consensus 
and harmony in the Latin Church as these doctrines and 
practices would require to make them orthodox. They 
are not the legitimate development of the Catholic doc- 
trines of the ancient Church. Still less can they be traced 
to the Christianity of Christ and his apostles. On the 
other hand they bear their condemnation as heterodox 
on their face, in that they involved the papal section of 
the Western Church in an apostasy from the great doc- 
trines of Latin Christianity which had been achieved 
under the leadership of Augustine and Anselm. 

It was the radical error of the Papacy that it raised 
the papal organization of the Church into the place of 
the Christianity of the apostles, — it installed the pope 
on the throne of Jesus Christ. It emphasized the means 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 17 

of grace to the detriment of the Augustinian doctrine of 
the divine grace itself. It confined the divine grace to 
the magical operations of the sacraments in the hands of 
the priesthood. It contemplated sin in its relation to the 
Church, and overlooked its enormity in the eyes of God. 
It made sin and holiness a system of debit and credit, — 
God's house a house of merchandise, — a den of thieves. 
It undermined the Anselmic doctrine of the atonement 
in its sacrifice of the altar. It destroyed the one offer- 
ing on the heavenly altar by the continual sacrifice on 
the multitudinous altars of the Church. It stripped the 
Saviour of his unique priesthood by making the ministers 
of the Church into a priesthood of many grades, with 
every variety of imperfection and sin. It took away the 
essential worth of the offering of Christ by estimating it 
according to material substances, transubstantiated by 
magical rites of a priesthood. These and other asso- 
ciated doctrines and practices of the Papacy were not 
only deflections from orthodoxy in an abnormal line of 
doctrinal development ; but they were rather heresies of 
so great enormity that they undermined and destroyed 
the doctrinal structure of the Latin Church. They threw 
away the achievements of Augustine and Anselm. They 
tore down the structure of Christian doctrine which 
Latin Christianity had built upon the catholic doctrines 
of the ancient Church. They substituted for them a 
structure of abominations which was essentially anti- 
Christian. The Roman Catholic Church is catholic be- 
cause it retains the catholicity of the early Church ; but 
it mingles this catholicity with anti-Christian doctrines 
and practices which find their only consistency in the 
papal system, which is rightly regarded by Presbyterians 
as a phase of Anti-Christ.* 



* Westminster Confession^ xxv. 6. 

2 



IQ AiMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The morning star of the Reformation, John Wiclifj 
the greatest divine of the late middle age, saw this rad- 
ical error of the Papal Antichrist, and presented the 
remedy in the doctrine of the supremacy of the Scrip- 
tures — of the voice of the Holy Spirit teaching the 
Church through the Scriptures. But this truly Christian 
doctrine of Wiclif, which ought to have completed the 
doctrinal achievements of the Latin Church and crowned 
the doctrines of Augustine and Anselm, was rejected by 
the Papacy. It would have saved the orthodox doc- 
trines of the Western Church from deterioration. It 
would have compacted them into a solid mass to serve as 
a platform for the modern age of the world ; but it would 
have destroyed the Roman hierarchy. It was accord- 
ingly declared perilous to the Church, and the apostasy 
and heterodoxy became complete. 

The Reformers were the truly orthodox divines who 
carried on the work of ,the middle ages to greater 
achievements. The Reformers overthrew Roman errors 
because they recognized the entire orthodox system of 
Latin Christianity. They not only urged the Augustin- 
ian doctrines of sin and of grace, and the Anselmic doc- 
trine of the Atonement, but still further they combined 
these with Wiclif's doctrine of the supremacy of the 
Scriptures ; and thus they were prepared by the catholic 
doctrines of the Ancient Church and the orthodox doc- 
trines of the Western Church, to advance to the peculiar 
problems of the modern world. 

Presbyterianism is orthodox because it is in entire ac- 
cord with these doctrines of Augustine, Anselm, and 
Wiclif. It is more in accordance with all of these doc- 
trines than is any other section of Christendom. It 
gives them all their appropriate place and significance 
with greater fidelity than does any other division oi 
Protestantism. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. J^Q 



IV. — PRESBYTERIANISM AND PROTESTANTISM. 

Protestantism is the Germanic branch of Christendom. 
It represents the doctrinal achievements of the modern 
age of the world. Its name indicates its negative work, 
namely : to protest against Roman Catholic heterodoxy, 
and maintain Christian orthodoxy. Protestantism is 
truly Christian, catholic, and orthodox, because it ad- 
heres to all the doctrinal attainments of the Church of 
Christ in all ages. It threw aside the rubbish of the 
papal system, but piously preserved the great stones of 
Christian doctrine placed in true position in the struc- 
ture of Christianity by those master-builders, Augustine, 
Anselm, and Wiclif. But the work of Protestantism was 
also a positive work. It was the work of the Germanic 
race to carry the development of Christianity to greater 
heights and grander achievements. The Ancient Church 
defined the doctrines of God, the Trinity, the person of 
Christ, and the office of the Holy Spirit, as the marks of 
catholicity. The Latin Church gave birth to three 
great chieftains, who raised the banners of orthodoxy 
upon which were inscribed for all time the doctrines of 
sin and of grace, of the atonement, and of the authority of 
the Scriptures. But it remained for the modern age of 
the world and the Germanic Church, for Luther, Zwingli, 
and Tyndale, to give a thorough consideration to the appli- 
cation of the divine grace, of the atonement of Christ, and 
of the Word of God to the individual and to the Church. 
The discussion of these doctrines was occasioned by erro- 
neous views which had arisen in the Church respecting 
the means of grace involving an abandonment of the 
Augustinian and Anselmic doctrines, and an ignoring of 
the principle of Wiclif. The whole body of Reformers 
with one accord rejected the errors of Rome and used 



20 AMERICAN rRESBYTERIANISM. 

the orthodox doctrines of the middle age as a basis for 
a higher structure of Christian doctrine. 

The first of the doctrinal achievements of Protestant- 
ism was the distinction of justification from sanctifica- 
tion, and the apprehension that justification is hy faith 
only. The Church was now conceived as a body of be- 
lievers, in personal union with Christ by faith. This 
Pauline doctrine was appropriated by Luther with such 
intensity of conviction and such clearness of vision as to 
its infinite significance that it became to the Reforma- 
tion like a new revelation from God. Faith only was the 
banner erected at Wittenberg about which the nations 
of Northern Europe rallied. Luther was brought to 
this conception by falling back upon the Augustinian 
doctrine of sin and the Anselmic doctrine of Christ's 
satisfaction for sin, which in their entire appropriation 
involved justification by faith only. They excluded 
satisfaction by human works. They rendered impossi- 
ble the removal of sins by merely external and magical 
remedies. Faith is the sole appropriating means of 
justification. It is a vital tie which binds the Christian 
to his Saviour. Justification is an immediate act of 
God and not a process. Faith is an immediate act of 
man and not a work. Justification and faith are com- 
bined in the satisfaction for sin by the sufferings of 
Christ and his justifying righteousness. 

The Swiss Reformation adopted this same principle, 
only it did not lay so much stress upon it as upon the 
second principle, salvation by grace alone. This brought 
about a difference between the Germans and Swiss in 
the article of faith. Lutherans made assurance of the 
essence of faith, but Calvinists distinguished between 
simple justifying faith and the assurance of faith which 
is the result of growth in grace. The Lutherans were 
ever afraid of the doctrine of good works, lest it should 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 21 

undermine the doctrine of justification by faith only; 
but the Calvinists insisted upon evangelical obedience in 
connection with their doctrine of growth in faith. The 
Presbyterians agreed with the Calvinists here, only they 
improved the doctrine of good works in relation to repent- 
ance and sanctification. They urged that simple justify- 
ing faith should grow to the attainment of infallible as- 
surance of salvation, and that it should be associated 
with repentance unto life. This was not a mere turning 
away from sin — contrition in the Lutheran sense ; but 
cross-bearing and following after Christ in the Calvinistic 
sense — an appropriation of holiness ; and so justification 
passes over into sanctification. The statements of the 
Westminster Confession on these doctrines transcend 
anything produced in the other Reformed symbols. 
They present the high-water mark of the flow of Prot- 
estantism.* 

The essential principle of the Swiss branch of the 
Reformation was salvation by divine grace alone over 
against the sacraments, the Church, and human instru- 
mentalities of any kind. The Swiss branch of the Refor- 
mation was brought into conflict with the Romish doc- 
trine of the Church and sacraments, and especially with 
the sacrifice of the Mass. The Swiss fell back upon the 
Augustinian doctrine of grace. The Lutheran Church 
believed in salvation by grace alone, but they tied the 
divine grace too closely to the Word and the sacraments. 
The Reformed Church believed that the Word and the 
sacraments were the ordinary means of grace, but urged 
that the divine grace is free, and is not to be confined 
to the ordinary means. It maintained that salvation 
is by divine grace alone, and not by external rites and 
ceremonies. 



* Westminster Confession^ xiii.-xvi. 



22 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The Reformed system of faith was consolidated by- 
Calvin. It then entered into conflict with the immature 
tendencies which had arisen in the Reformed Churches 
of the different nations. Geneva became the metrop- 
olis of the Reformed faith. The Calvinistic system 
was riper than the Lutheran. It agreed with the Luther- 
an in the doctrine of justification by faith alone ; but it 
advanced beyond Luther in the doctrine of salvation by 
the divine grace alone ; for Luther was at fault in his 
doctrine of the sacraments. He rejected transubstan- 
tiation, but substituted for it consubstantiation. Zwingli 
was crude in his conception of the sacraments. It was 
Calvin who first grasped the true doctrine of the Sac- 
raments and made his doctrine characteristic of the 
Reformed churches. He distinguished between the 
divine grace and the sacramental means— he maintained 
that the divine grace might work without means. God 
is a gracious God, but He is also sovereign and free, and 
will not confine His operations to external instrumen- 
talities. Yet the means of grace, and especially the 
Lord's Supper, are divinely appointed, and they ordi- 
narily convey divine grace to the true believer. The 
grace is not so confined to the means as to produce a 
magical or medicinal effect. It is a spiritual energy 
which accompanies the external forms to the true be- 
liever, and to him aloiie. It conveys regeneration and 
renovation, not to the senses, but to the spiritual facul- 
ties of the elect man. 

The Calvinistic system o-f grace is the most compre- 
hensive and liberal of all Christian systems. It recog- 
nizes the salvation by the divine grace of men who are 
incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of 
the Word or reached by the means of grace.* The 



* Westminster Confession^ x. 3 ; xxvii. 3. 



TEIE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 23 

salvation of men is not left to depend upon merely 
human instrumentalities and agencies. The Spirit of 
God works '^ when and where and how He pleaseth " 
upon the elect of God. The elect are not chosen by the 
arbitrary or capricious will of God, but by the gracious, 
the merciful will of God. The sovereignty does not 
limit the grace of God, but the grace of God is ever 
supreme and determines the sovereignty. The elect are 
those whom the infinite mercy of God selects ; the 
redeemed are those whom the infinite grace of God de- 
termines to be the appropriate objects of saving love. 

There have been forms of Calvinism which have 
hedged in the divine electing grace with sovereignty and 
with arbitrariness. But the Calvinistic symbols do not 
make this mistake. The Reformers did not emphasize 
the sovereignty of God, but the grace of God. God is 
a sovereign, but He is a divine Sovereign, and His sov- 
ereignty is not an absolutism, but a dominion of grace. 
To limit His grace by sovereignty is an error. God's 
election is an election of grace in its origination in the 
gracious will of God and in all its processes. To limit 
election by sovereignty rather than by grace is an error 
without justification in the Reformed symbols. 

Calvinism entered into conflict with Arminianism and 
sharpened its definitions of the doctrine of grace so as 
to make them the conquering forces of the modern 
world. The freeness of the divine grace was empha- 
sized. It is prevenient — it does not wait for human 
faith. It is anticipatory — it provides the ability which 
sinful men need in order to believe. It is irresistible at 
the supreme moment— it overcomes all the inability 
and inertia and resistance of a depraved nature. It is 
persistent, prevalent, and effectual — it never relaxes its 
hold upon the elect, it prevails over all his frailties, — it 
effects the perseverance of the saints and their ultimate 
sanctification. 



24 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The scholastic theologians of Switzerland and Holland 
perverted these precious doctrinal achievements of 
Calvinism into hard, stern, and barren dogmas, by 
emphasizing their formal, technical, and merely external 
character. They neglected to discriminate the processes 
of the divine grace as the Lutheran scholastics neglect- 
ed the stages of growth in faith. The order of the de- 
crees and the order of salvation were carefully elabo- 
rated in artificial logical systems, but these were poor 
mechanical substitutes for it. In the Arminian conflict 
the scholastics were the bitter foes of the Arminians, 
and they went to such extremes of logical deduction 
that they sought to exclude from orthodoxy those who 
were more orthodox than themselves. They divided 
the Calvinistic camp into two parties — scholastic Cal- 
vinists, and moderate Calvinists. They emphasized the 
sovereignty of the divine grace, and limited it in the 
direction of arbitrariness and wilfulness. The British 
Presbyterians were real Calvinists over against the Ar- 
minians, but, when they constructed the Westminster 
symbols, they declined to compromise themselves with 
the technical and formal elaborations of Calvinism in 
the scholastic systems. 

Reynolds, Calamy, Marshall, Baxter, not to speak of 
the older Ball and Cartwright, had the true spirit of the 
Reformation. They did not neglect to lay stress upon 
human activity in redemption. As they insisted that 
faith should pass over into repentance unto life, and the 
full assurance of salvation ; so they also urged that the 
grace of God in the heart should manifest itself in an 
experience of grace in the life ; in a graceful temper and 
gracious character. They urged the prevenient grace 
of God as the sole source of redemption. They magni- 
fied the vital energy of the divine grace, and laid stress 
upon effectual calling and divine adoption ; but they 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTEHIANISM IN EUROPE. 25 

carefully guarded the doctrines of predestination and 
election from abuse ; insisting that 

" God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel 
of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes 
to pass ; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin ; nor 
is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty 
or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather estab- 
lished." {lVest7mnster Confession of Faith, iii., i.) 

There is effectual calling to Jesus Christ, ''yet so as 
they come most freely, being made willing by his grace." 
But it is especially in the assurance of grace and salva- 
tion that Presbyterianism in this department reaches its 
height : 

" This certainly is not a bare conjectural and probable persua- 
sion, grounded upon a fallible hope ; but an infallible assurance 
of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salva- 
tion, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these 
promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption wit- 
nessing with our spirits that we are the children of God." .... 
" It is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his call- 
ing and election sure ; that thereby his heart may be enlarged 
in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to 
God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, 
the proper fruits of this assurance ; so far is it from inclining 
men to looseness." {^Westminster Confession of Faith, chap, 
xviii. 2-3.) 

We shall not presume to deny that the Presbyterians 
of the Westminster Assembly laid too much stress upon 
the doctrines of Predestination and Election. This they 
shared with the entire Reformation movement. It was 
essential that they should take this point of view at that 
time. All true reformers were agreed here. But we 
claim that British Presbyterians guarded these doctrines 
from abuse better than the Continental divines, and that 
they advanced upon them in urging growth in grace, 
and a progressive application of grace in redemption.* 

* It has been the misfoi tune of Presbyterianism that the symbols which it 



26 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

V. — PRESBYTERIANISM AND PURITANISM. 

Puritanism was the great religious force of the seven- 
teenth century, the most powerful influence in British 
thought and life since the Reformation. It was in- 
deed the British type of Protestantism, — the Protest- 
antism of the Reformation advancing to a higher and 
grander manifestation. The Reformation in Great 
Britain was an irresistible movement of the people. It 
was combated by monarchs, princes, and prelates. It 
was restrained, so far as possible, by the authorities in 
church and state. Every effort was put forth to con- 
strain it into prescribed channels. There was a long 
and intense struggle between the new life and the old 
forms it was forced to wear. That struggle grew fiercer 
and fiercer. It became a life-and-death combat. The 
monarchs and their prelates raised their determination 
to the pitch of tyranny and despotism. They under- 
took to crush evangelical liberty and to clothe the Prot- 
estant spirit in a semi-papal uniform. But when 
patience ceased to be a virtue and endurance reached 
its climax, the youthful energy and indomitable life of 
Puritanism burst the bands, cast off the compromis- 
ing dresses, and monarch and prelates went down in the 
common ruin. 

The Puritan era is the heroic age for Great Britain 



framed have been interpreted, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, from the 
point of view of the alien scholastic writers of the Continent. The circumstances 
of their historic origin, and the writings of those who framed them, have been 
neglected and forgotten. We seldom notice references to Westminster divines, 
or early Puritans, other than the scholastic Owen, in the theological works of the 
leaders of orthodoxy in the Presbyterian churches of the past century. One who 
takes the pains to study the Puritans and Westminster divines in their writings 
soon discovers that the grace of God to them was an intensely practical grace, — 
a grace of experience, a grace of Christian life. The virus of Scholasticism had 
not yet inoculated them as it did their feebler descendants when they forsook 
the favorite Biblical studies of their Fathers for a strife over dogmatic common- 
places. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. g^ 

and for America. In it were the foundations laid for all 
that is noblest and best in subsequent times. It is true 
it gave birth to a large number of conflicting sects which 
waged an unrelenting warfare with one another. A gan- 
grene of heresies spread all over England. The stately 
robes of Anglo-Roman conformity were torn in shreds 
and every fragment gave birth to a new sect. But out 
of this vast complexity, this marvellous variety of Puri- 
tanism, the stately structure of British and American 
Christianity has been rising in higher and grander stages ; 
for the unifying principle of Puritanism has been at 
work as the most potent force in Anglo-Saxon History ; 
working through many generations of conflict, changing 
intolerance into toleration, and checking separation by 
cojnprehension. It aims, as we believe, at organic unity, 
— a unity not of uniformity or conformity; but a unity 
in variety, a unity such as we find in all the great works 
of God ; a unity of life, of liberty, of progress ; a unity 
which Is the organizing force of a vast and complex or- 
ganism, which will come to manifestation in the apex of 
a pyramid, embracing all the phases of evangelical Chris- 
tianity. This organic principle of Puritanism is embed- 
ded in the great Puritan symbol, the Westminster Con- 
fession of Faith : 

" God alone is Lord of the Conscience, and hath left it free 
from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in 
anything contrary to his word, or beside it in matters of faith 
or worship. So that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such 
commandments out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of 
conscience ; and the requiring an implicit faith and an absolute 
and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and rea- 
son also." (XX. 2.) 

This principle of Puritanism was a growth of centu- 
ries, and it had to be wrought Into the life and experi- 
ence of the British people. This could only be brought 



2g AMERICAN PEESBYTERIANISM. 

about by conflict and suffering unto death. The history 
of Puritanism is a history of struggle for religious liberty. 
Puritanism is rich in martyrs. It has advanced, like 
early Christianity, through a series of persecutions. It 
has gained its victories with the blood and the nerves of 
its noblest and its best. 

It has been well said that '' England could produce no 
Luther in the sixteenth century, simply because it had 
had its Luther already in the fourteenth." "^ 

John Wiclif was indeed the morning star of the 
Reformation, heralding its dawn. He struck at the root 
of the authority of the hierarchy in his principle of the 
supreme authority of the Scriptures. He wielded the 
flaming sword of God with which to conquer every form 
of Ecclesiasticism and Scholasticism when he said : 
*' The Holy Spirit teacheth us the sense of Scripture as 
Christ opened the Scripture to His apostles." Wiclif 
was sustained by potent influences, and passed to his 
grave in peace ; but his followers, who went up and 
down preaching the gospel to the people of England, 
sealed their testimony with their blood, and became the 
front rank of the martyrs of Puritanism. A forlorn 
hope in the assault upon the battlements of Rome, they 
opened the way of liberty through fire and blood. 

The Reformation in England differs from the Refor- 
mation on the Continent in that it lacked a great heroic 
leader. There was no Luther or Zwingli or Calvin to 
lead the nation to evangelical faith and liberty. But 
England has the vastly greater honor of finding its chief 
reformer in a hunted man of the people, who gave him- 
self, with self-sacrificing devotion, to the translation of 
the Word of God for the British nation, — William Tyn- 
dale, the martyr reformer, dying at the stake, October 



* Mitchell, A. F., WesiminsUr Assemb/y, p. 3 ; London, 1883. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. ^9 

6, 1536, with the prayer: " Lord, open the King of Eng- 
land's eyes." He was the true reformer for Great 
Britain, the man chosen of God to lead a Reform which 
was deeper, more thorough, longer in its sweep, higher 
in its range, grander in its destiny, than those branches 
of the Reformation which sprang from Wittenberg and 
Zurich, For Puritanism had in it a principle of reform 
which was the most far-reaching of the principles of the 
Reformation. On this account it was doomed to mar- 
tyrdom, for a series of generations, in order that by pro- 
longed suffering for Christ and his truth the Puritans 
might become the more profoundly dependent upon 
God, the closer in fellowship with their Redeemer, the 
more resolute and athletic in the centuries of conflict 
before them. For it was the destiny of Puritanism to 
bear the banner of Evangelical progress to loftier heights 
long after the Protestantism of the Continent had be- 
come stereotyped in varied forms of Scholasticism. 

The British Reformation early divided itself into two 
antagonistic parties, the ecclesiastical or conservative 
party, and the popular or progressive party ; the one 
would keep as near to Rome as possible ; the other sought 
close conformity with the Reformed Churches of the 
Continent and a complete reformation. 

The Puritan party secured the XXXIX Articles, the 
Prelatical party rallied around the Book of Common 
Prayer. The XXXIX Articles took its position among 
the Reformed Confessions. The Book of Common 
Prayer retained not a few of the forms of Papacy. This 
double and inconsistent standard became the bane of the 
Church of England. 

The XXXIX Articles assumed the essential principle 
of Puritanism in the statement : 

" Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation, 
so that whatever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, 



30 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIAXISM. 

is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an 
article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." 
(Art. VI.) 

But this principle was outraged and violated by the 
Prelatical party at every stage of the conflict. For the 
Book of Common Prayer did require, in the Prelatical 
demand for uniformity, a large number of things which, 
assuredly, were not contained in Scripture, and which 
could not be deduced from Scripture. The Puritans 
took their stand on the 6th Article, and contended that 
the Romish and unscriptural things should be removed 
from the Prayer-Book. 

Bishops Hugh Latimer, John Hooper, Farrar, and 
many others, Puritan ministers and laymen, followed 
Tyndale in martyrdom ; but the blood of these martyrs 
became the seed of the church. The exiled Puritans 
went to Geneva, the head-quarters of the Reformation, 
and studied in the school of Calvin. They returned un- 
der Elizabeth a new generation to renew the strua-gle 
with fresh vigor. And then the Puritan conflict became 
intense. In Scotland it triumphed under the leadership 
of the bold and brave Knox. His Scottish Confession 
(1560) took the advanced Puritan position. 

" As we believe and confesse the Scriptures of God sufficient to 
instruct and make the man of God perfite, so do we affirme and 
avow the authoritie of the same to be of God, neither to depend on 
men or angelis. We affirme, therefore, that sik as allege the 
Scripture to have no uther authoritie but that quhilk it has re- 
ceived from the Kirk, to be blasphemous against God, and in- 
jurious to the treu Kirk quhilk ahvaies heares and obeyis the voice 
of her awin spouse and pastor, but takis not upon her to be 
maistres over the sammin." (Art. XIX.) 

Here the Scotch Confession advances beyond the 
Anglican and reaf^rms the principle of Wiclif ; for the 
Anglican Confession, while it affirms the sole authority 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 3I 

of Scripture, bases the canon of Scripture on the au- 
thority of church tradition, and leaves its interpretation 
undefined ; whereas the Puritan position lodges the au- 
thority of the Bible in itself. God in it speaks with au- 
thoritative voice to believers, determining the canon and 
its interpretation. The Scottish reformation was carried 
through in doctrine, discipline, and worship. Knox's 
book of Common Order displaced the Mass book ; Pres- 
bytery took the place of Papacy ; the Scottish nation 
as a nation was reformed. In England it was far differ- 
ent. The leader of the English Elizabethan Puritanism 
was Thomas Cartwright ; and he was required to pursue 
the path of suffering opened up by the Puritan worthies 
that preceded him. And yet he waged a brave, earnest, 
and persistent struggle against arbitrary and tyrannical 
prelatical rule. The Puritans, with few exceptions, were 
not put to death under Elizabeth by fire and sword, but 
they were deprived, fined, imprisoned, exiled, and abused 
in a fashion that was worse than death. But all this 
persecution could not accomplish its purpose. Noncon- 
formity increased ; the better part of the laity sympa- 
thized with their deprived pastors, and declined to con- 
form. The nation was more and more alienated from 
the prelates and became Puritan. 

It is important that we should carefully note the ap- 
plication of the Puritan principle to the conformity that 
the romanizing prelates strove to force upon them. 
But we should always remember that a noble line of 
Puritan prelates continued to protect and encourage 
Puritanism as much as possible. 

The issue was joined at first with reference to cere- 
monies. It became a battle over the Book of Common 
Prayer. The Puritans did not object to a Book of 
Common Prayer. As all the Reformed Churches of 
the Continent had Prayer-Books, so Knox introduced 



32 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

the Book of Common Order into Scotland, and it 
was used in Scotland until the adoption of the West- 
minster Directory, and has never been set aside by an 
official act of the Church.^^ The English Puritans 
desired to purge the Book of Common Prayer, estab- 
lished in England. There were indeed several revisions 
of the Prayer-Book in the battle of Puritanism and 
Prelacy, in accordance with the changing fortunes of 
the parties. The ceremonies objected to in the Book 
of Common Prayer were the Romish ceremonies : the 
priestly garments, the kneeling at the altar in receiving 
the sacrament, the cross in baptism, the bowing at the 
name of Jesus, etc. The reason of objection was that 
the ceremonies carried with them the Popish doctrine of 
the priesthood, the sacrifice of the Mass, and vulgar 
superstitions — they encouraged secret Papists in the 
Church of England. There can be no doubt that this 
was their original design. Every effort was put forth to 
conciliate the priesthood of Rome and induce them to 
conform to the Church of England. The Puritans, as 
sincere Reformers, protested against this compromise 
with Rome, and were certainly the real Protestant 
party. The Prelates were more tolerant with the Pa- 
pists than they were with the Puritans. 

John Knox applied the Puritan principle to all the 
forms of worship, maintaining : " That in the worship 
of God, and especially in the administration of the Sac- 
raments, the rule prescribed in Holy Scripture is to be 
observed without addition or diminution, and that the 
Church has no right to devise religious ceremonies and 
impose significations upon them."f 



* See Cunningham, Church History of Scotland^ Edinburgh, 1859, Vol. II., 
pp. 65 seq. 

+ Lorimer, John Knox and the Church 0/ England^ London, 1875, p. 6 ; 
Knox, Works y I., pp. 192 seq. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 33 

In accordance with this principle he carried out " a 
root and branch Reformation " in Scotland. 

John Knox was also engaged in the reformation of 
England. At Berwick on the Tweed he first Introduced 
the Helvetic custom of sitting at the Lord's table.* 
He was also chiefly influential in the addition to the 
Prayer-Book of Edward VL, of " The Declaration on 
Kneeling." f 

Hooper, in his sermon before the king in 15 50, en- 
deavored to purify the ceremony of baptism. if 

The Priestly garments greatly disturbed the English 
Church, but in Scotland ^' every surplice and every stole 
seems to have been burned up in the Reformation bon- 
fires." § The Scottish General Assembly in 1566 tried 
to aid their Puritan brethren in England in these mat- 
ters and addressed a letter " to their brethren the Bish- 
ops and Pastors of England, who have renounced the 
Roman Antichrist" in their behalf, but in vain.|| 

4 

* Lorimer, J^o^n K7iox^ pp. 31 seq. 

+ It was introduced into the Prayer-Book to satisfy the scruples of the Puri- 
tans. It was removed in the reign of Elizabeth in order to please the Roman- 
ists. It was again inserted at the Restoration in order to induce the Puritans to 
conform (Lorimer, John Knox, pp. 119 .y^^., and pp. 134 i-^^.). The views of 
Beza and the Genevan divines on this subject are given in a letter to the Eng- 
lish Puritans, dated October 24, 1547. " Kneehng at the very receipt of the 
sacrament, hath in it a show of Godly and Christian reverence, and might there- 
fore in times past be used with profit, yet for all that, becaus2 out of this foun- 
tain the detestable use of bread-worship did follow, and doth in these days stick 
in many minds, it seemeth to us that it was justly abolished out from the congre- 
gation." {^The Judgment 0/ Foraign Divines, London, i65o, p. 15.) 

\ He said that the matter and element of the sacrament " is pure water ; what- 
ever is added — oil, salt, cross, lights, and such other — be inventions of men, and 
better it were they were abolished than kept in the church, for they obscure the 
simplicity and perfectness of Christ our Saviour's institution." 

§ Cunningham, Church History of Scotland, Edin. 1859, I., p. 485. 

\ They say : •' If surplice, corner-cap, and tippet have been badges of idolaters 
in the very act of their idolatry, what hath the preacher of Christian liberty, 
and the open rebuker of all superstition, to do with the dregs of the Romish 
Beast ? Our brethren that of conscience refuse that unprofitable apparel, do 

3 



34 AMERICAN PRE8BTTERIANISM. 

It is difficult in the 19th century to appreciate the 
seriousness of the struggle and the necessity imposed 
upon the Puritans to resist the ceremonies. They felt 
that they compromised themselves with Roman errors 
or opened the doors for a secret, subtle Roman propa- 
gandism which would eventually destroy the Reforma- 
tion. Therefore hundreds of Puritans in 1634 

'' were persecuted, censured, suspended, excommunicated or de- 
prived for praying for the conversion of the Queen [a R. C], for 
not bowing at the name of Jesus or towards the high altar, or not 
consenting to the placing of the communion-table altar-wise and 
railing it in, or for delivering the sacrament to such as did not 
kneel, or for preaching against Arminianism or Popery, or for 
refusing to read the Book of Sports. And were many of them 
forced to leave the kingdom and go into Holland, New England 
or Florida." (Morice MSS., fol. 7. Dr. Williams' Library, 
London.) 

Those whom Old England refused were welcomed to 
New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
Carolina. They established Puritanism as the religious 
force of North America. They planted a nation which 
is now, and always has been, and always will be, a Puri- 
tan nation. 

The Puritan fathers were wise and true in their con- 
tentions against the ceremonies. These ceremonies 
carried with them, by association, grievous errors, and 
compromised Protestantism. They encouraged secret 
Papists ; but the Puritan movement was forced by the 
circumstances of the case to extremes which involved 
the radical section of it and their descendants in sad 
mistakes. These entered into a crusade against other 
things that were not only harmless but to edification. 



neither damne yours, or molest you that use such vain trifles : If you shall do the 
like to them we doubt not but therein ye shall please God, and comfort the 
hearts of many which are wounded with extremity, which is used against those 
godly, and our beloved brethren," 



THE RISE OF PRESBTTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 35 

The Puritan contest against Popish ceremonies was 
advanced by the radical party into a Puritanical opposi- 
tion to all liturgies, organs, instruments of music, hymns 
other than psalms, pictures, statues, architecture, and 
art of any kind, in worship. These were serious blunders 
which compromised the genuine Puritan party, and 
crippled and retarded the growth of Puritanism among 
the educated and cultured classes. 

The genuine Puritanism was opposed to Popish cere- 
monies. It was only the narrower section of Puritanism 
which was opposed to prayer-books. This opposition 
was stronger in Scotland than in England among 
Presbyterians because of historical circumstances. The 
opposition to liturgies in England was rather on the 
part of Independents than Presbyterians. The opposi- 
tion in Scotland was among the Protesters, who were 
more in accord with the English Commonwealth party, 
and who introduced into Scotland a considerable num- 
ber of innovations in matters of worship.* -^^ 

The Westminster Assembly found it impracticable to 
revise the Book of Common Prayer so as to satisfy both 
nations and all parties. They preferred to make a new 
Confession of Faith after spending a considerable time 
in trying to revise the XXXIX Articles. Revision of 
historical documents is more difficult than a construc- 
tion of new documents. It was still more difficult to 
construct a Prayer-Book for Scotland and England and 



* The Presbyterians in Scotland separated in 165 1 into two parties, the Resolu- 
tioners and the Protesters. The Resolutioners carried through the General 
Assembly a series of resolutions in form of *• healing measures," to unite the 
Scottish nation to the king against Cromwell. The Protesters insisted that 
only the strictest Covenanters should hold positions of trust and influence or be 
taken into fellowship. The Protesters entered into close relations with the 
Commonwealth party of England, and adopted not a few Puritanical notions 
from the Engli-sh sectaries. The Resolutioners co-operated with the Presby- 
terian party in England and Ireland. (Cunningham, Church History 0/ Scot- 
land, II., pp. 168 setj.) 



36 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Ireland than a Confession of Faith. A Directory for the 
Public Worship of God was the only thing that was prac- 
ticable. This was successfully constructed, but with the 
definite understanding that it was not to be imposed in 
every particular, and that it did not determine between 
the use of free or written prayer. These matters were 
left to the several chui:ches as the sphere in which to ex- 
ercise Christian liberty.* 

The Westminster divines were unable under the cir- 
cumstances to prescribe in the minute details of worship, 
and determined to leave the question of free prayer or 



*This is so admirably explained by Dr. Mitchell, that we quote him at length : 
" The tolerant purpose of those who framed it is fully expressed in their letter 
to the Scottish General Assembly of 1645, in which they say : ' We have not ad- 
vised any imposition which might make it unlawful to vary from it in anything ; 
yet we hope all our reverend brethren in this kingdom and in yours also, will so 
far value and reverence that which upon so long debate aud serious deliberation 
hath been agreed upon in the Assembly, .... that it shall not be the less re- 
garded and observed. And albeit we have not expressed in the Directory every 
minute particular which is or might be either laid aside or retained among us as 
comely and useful in practice ; yet we think that none will be so tenacious of old 
customs not expressly forbidden, or so averse to our good examples although new, 
in matters of lesser consequence, as to insist upon their Uberty of retaining the 
one or refusing the other because not specified in the Directory.' The materials 
for prayer and exhortation provided in the Directory were not meant by its 
framers, as they explain in the preface, to do more than supply help and furniture, 
of which the officiating minister might avail himself. It was said, indeed, by Mr. 
Marshall, when he first brought in the part relating to the ordinary services for 
the Lord's day, that it did ' not only set down the heads of things, but so largely 
as that with the altering of here and there a word, a man may mould it into a 
prayer.' But when reminded of this some months afterwards, when he brought 
in the first draught of the Preface, bearing a statement that this was not intended, 
he said : ' Some such expression did fall from my mouth ; I said as one reason 
why it was so large, here he might have such furniture as that with a little help he 
may do it. But there is no contradiction to say that we do not intend it. It is 
not a direct prohibition,' (MS, Minutes, vol. ii., p. 286 b.) In other words, 
those who conducted the ordinary services were not directly prohibited from turn- 
ing the materials furnished to them into an unvarying form of prayer, keeping as 
near to the words of the Directory as they could ; but at the same time they w^ere 
not only not restricted or counselled to do so, but they were counselled and en- 
couraged to do something more, according to their ability and opportunities." • 
(Mitchell, Westminster Assembly, pp. 232, 233.) 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 37 

written prayer to be determined by the circumstances of 
the countries and the times. They had been bitten so 
sharply by prescribed forms and imposed ceremonies, 
that they were indisposed to prescribe them or impose 
them upon others.* 

No parts of worship have been more sharply debated 
in Presbyterian circles than psalmody and instrumental 
music. With regard to the latter, it is held in many 
quarters that it is against the principles of Presbyterian- 
ism to use instrumental music in worship. Prof. W. D. 
Killen, of Belfast, has recently shown in an admirable 
tractf that this is a mistake. The banishment of mu- 
sical instruments from the worship of God's house was 
the result of a radical movement in Scotland and Ire- 
land. The Westminster divines are not responsible for 
it. This and other such matters they left to be deter- 
mined in accordance with the Puritan principles of lib- 
erty and toleration of difference in non-essentials. It 
might easily be shown that it was the radical party 
among the Puritans which disgraced the great reform- 
ing movement by the destruction of images and pictures 
and the architecture of churches. But Puritanism as a 
whole has been compromised by the narrower party. It 
has still the task of relieving itself from the burdens in- 



* Those who in later times sought to prescribe a^^ainst the use of written 
prayers and to impose upon others their view of the exclusion of certain things 
from worship, went in the teeth of the views of the Westminster divines. It is a 
strange inconsistency on the part of some parties in our day to object to written 
prayers, which were left by the Westminster divines an open question, and yet 
change, without hesitation, the succession of parts of worship in the Directory, 
which order the Westminster divines regarded as very important to worship. It 
is really more important that the order of topics and succession of parts should be 
followed in all of our churches, than that these topics should be delivered from 
written pages, printed pages, or the scheme should be committed to memory and 
its outlines filled up extempore. 

t The Westminster Divines on the Use of Instrumental Music in the Wor- 
ship of God. Belfast, 1883. 



38 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

tolerance and radicalism have put upon it. It should re- 
turn to the genuine principles of the original Puritanism, 
and carry out the broader policy of the Westminster 
divines. 

In recent times much of the fault has been retrieved 
in Great Britain and America, but still more needs to be 
done. Here is the weakness of the great Puritan bodies 
of our day. There is nothing in the principle of Puri- 
tanism that should prevent any worship of God in forms 
of Christian art, whether music or painting or sculpture 
or architecture, provided these are mere forms to give 
the most beautiful or orderly or grand expression to sin- 
cere worship and to common prayer. Puritanism is the 
foe to all formalism in worship, to all i7isincerity, to all 
error ; but the experience of two centuries has shown 
that even in the simple forms of Puritanism there may 
\iQ formalism and insincerity and error, as well as in the 
elaborate ritual of Anglican, Roman, or Greek Christian- 
ity. Puritanism will ever be opposed to prescribed forms 
and imposed ceremonies ; it demands liberty of worship, 
but that liberty finds its best expression where the intel- 
lectual, moral, and aesthetic faculties combine to give to the 
rehgious energies forms of truth, beauty, and excellence. 

The Puritans emphasized preaching rather than the 
sacraments and public prayer."^ The vicars who could 



* " They hold, that the highest and supreme office and authority of the pastor, 
is to preach the gospel solemnly and publicly to the congregation, by interpret- 
ing the written word of God, and applying the same by exhortation and reproof 
unto them. They hold, that this was the greatest work that Christ and his apos- 
tles did ; and that whosoever is thought worthy and fit to exercise this authority, 
cannot be thought unfit and unworthy to exercise any other spiritual or ecclesias- 
tical authority whatsoever. They hold, that the pastor or minister of the Word 
is not to teach any doctrine unto the church, grounded upon his own judgment 
or opinion, or upon the judgment or opinion of any or all the men in the world ; 
but only that truth that he is able to demonstrate and prove evidently, and ap- 
parently by the Word of God soundly interpreted." (Wm. Bradshaw, English 
Puritajiism, 1604, reprinted in Several Treatises 0/ Worship and Ceremonies. 
London, 1660 ; p. 41.) 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 39 

not preach, but who merely read the service and the 
printed homilies, were called, in the graphic language of 
ancient prophesying, ** dumb dogs." The Puritans gave 
their strength to expository preaching and to exhorta- 
tion in their meetings for prophesying. This preaching 
of the gospel had a powerful effect upon the people. 
It became a stronghold of Puritanism. The Prelates of 
the Anglo-Roman cast put forth every effort to suppress 
it, but there were always pious Puritan Prelates to en- 
courage it. When the preachers were silenced in the 
churches, pious laymen established lectureships, and the 
work of exposition went on with greater freedom and 
redoubled energy. The prophesying in public was pre- 
vented, but it was conducted in secret and became 
a more powerful means of grace. By persecution the 
Puritans were constrained to be great preachers, and 
they enjoyed the gift and learned the art of free prayer. 
Such a band of preaching and praying ministers as gath- 
ered in the Westminster Assembly the world had never 
seen before. The preaching of the gospel and the proph- 
esying or prayer-meeting have been two leading fea- 
tures in all Puritan regions. These have been only par- 
tially appropriated by the Church of England and her 
daughters. The Nonconforming Churches of England, 
the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland, and the Puritan 
Churches of America have maintained their pre-eminence 
in this respect. The gift of prayer has been bestowed 
in marvellous richness and efficacy upon these Churches. 
But the Puritan fathers, who were forced to emigra- 
tion and to separation, were also urged by circumstances 
to a position which they would not otherwise have taken. 
There is a liturgical tendency in many Puritan Churches 
which is really a reaction to the position of the earlier 
Puritanism, which aimed at a Protestant, Puritan Service 
Book, with the freedom of extempore prayer ; a liturgy 



40 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

which should be a help and guide, and not a master or 
fetter. 

VI.— PRESBYTERIANISM AND PRELACY. 

The Puritan battle reached its height in the struggle 
over the government of the church. The real Puritans 
were not opposed to episcopacy, as such, if the episco- 
pacy could be reduced to New Testament dimensions of 
a presiding presbyter. They were opposed to a prelacy 
which presumed to govern the church without regard to 
the presbyters, the church, and the people.^ 

Hooper, the leading English Puritan of his time, ac- 
cepted a bishopric and remained a Puritan in his views 
of church government. His example has been followed 
by a multitude of Puritan bishops of the Church of Eng- 
land until the present day. John Knox consented to 
the employment of bishops who should be subject to 
the General Assembly, and the First Book of Discipline 



* Calvin has been repeatedly charged with being the author of all the quarrels 
in British Christianity. Benedict Pictet, the Swiss divine, defends him in a letter 
to Dr. Nicholls, 1708 : 

" If Mr. Calvin had entertained any prejudices against the episcopal order, or if 
he had had any thoughts of propagating the poHty of the Genevan church among 
other countrys, or if he had thought that that would best conduce to keep up 
good order in the church, how comes it that in that long letter which he wrote to 
the Duke of Somerset concerning the Reformation of the Church of England, he 
does not speak one word against the dignity of Bishops ? For then he had a 
very fair occasion of breaking his mind upon this head, and deserving well of the 
church. How comes it to pass that when he wrote to A. Bp. Cranmer he gives 
him all the honorable titles which are paid to that character ? Nay, be pleased 
to hear what he says in his book of the necessity of a Reformation in the Church, 
Talefn nobis ^ etc. Let them give us such an Hierarchy in which Bishops may be 
so advanced that they may not refuse to be subject to Christ and may depend 
upon him as their only head and refer themselves to him and so cultivate a 
brotherly fellowship among themselves, that they be not bound together with 
any other knott than that of the Gospel truth ; then we shall confess them to de- 
serve ye heaviest curse who shall not reverence it ; and pay a wilUng obedience 
to it. And writing to his friend, Mr. Farell, he observes that there ought to be 
among Christians such a hatred of schism, that they must, upon all occasions, to 
the utmost of their power, avoid it." (S. P. G., Letter Book.) 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 4^ 

provides ten superintendents for the Church of Scot- 
land."^ The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 
at the Reformation became the representative body of 
the Scottish nation, in which all the notables, civil and 
ecclesiastical, were gathered to share in the government 
and discipline of the Church. It was the subserviency 
of the leading bishops to the encroachments of the royal 
prerogative, and the intrigues of the nobles ; their impe- 
rious claims to authority over the ministry ; and their 
determination to constrain the people to ceremonies and 
ordinances without the consent of the presbyters, and 
against the conscientious scruples of the Puritan nation, 
which brought about their downfall. 

The Puritan plan for reforming the government and 
discipline of the church was stated by Thomas Cart- 
wright, Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, in 1570 : 

" (i) That the names and functions of archbishops and arch- 
deacons ought to be abolished. (2) That the offices of the law- 
ful ministers of the Church, viz., bishops and deacons, ought to 
be reduced to their apostolical institution : bishops to preach the 
word of God, and pray, and deacons to be employed in taking 
care of the poor. (3) That the government of the Church ought 
not to be intrusted to bishop's chancellors, or the officials of 
archdeacons ; but every church ought to be governed by its own 
ministers and presbyters. (4) That ministers ought not to be at 
large, but every one should have the charge of a particular con- 
gregation. (5) That no man ought to solicit, or to stand as a 
candidate for the ministry. (6) That ministers ought not to be 
created by the sole authority of the bishop, but to be openly and 



* It, however, limits their powers : " These men must not be suffered to live 
as your idle bishops have done heretofore, neither must they remain where gladly 
they would ; but they must be preachers themselves, and such as may not make 
long; residence in any place till their kirkes be planted and provided of ministers, 
or at the least, of readers," — and " If the superintendent be found negligent in 
any of the chiefe points of his office, and specially if he be noted negligent in 
preaching of the Word, and visitation of the kirkes ; or if he be convicted of such 
crimes which in common members are damned, he must be deposed without re- 
spect of his person or office. " 



42 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

fairly chosen by the people." (Brook, Memoir of Thomas Cart- 
wright, London, 1845 ; p. 69.) 

The Prelatical party deprived Cartwright of his pro- 
fessorship December 11, 1570, and of his fellowship at 
Trinity College in September, 1571. He went to Geneva 
and conferred with Beza and other chiefs of the Re- 
formed churches, and was confirmed by them in his 
Presbyterianism. He returned to England in Novem- 
ber, 1572, to engage in severer struggles with Whitgift 
and the Prelatical party."^ But at the close of 1574 he 
was obliged to flee to the continent to escape arrest. 
He remained abroad until 1585, when he returned to 
England under the protection of the Earl of Leicester 
and the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, f but was immediately 

* An Admonition to Parliainent for the Reformat io7t of Church Discipline 
had been issued by John Field and Thomas Wilcocks, for which they were cast 
into prison. Cartwright espoused their cause, and issued The Second Admoni- 
tion^ with aft Humble Petitio7t to both Houses of Parliajnent for Relief against 
Subscription, 1572. Whitgift replied in A7t Ansv:ere to a Certe7i Libell, inti- 
tuled An Admonition to the Parlia7ne7it, iST^- Cartwright rejoined in A Re- 
plye to an A7tswere made of M. Doctor Whitegifte agai7iste the Ad7nonition to 
the Parlia7ne7tt, i573- Cartwright contended that the government and discipline 
of the church should be reformed according to the Scriptures. The discussion 
embraced the entire field of Puritanism : the choice of ministers, the offices of 
the Christian Church, clerical habits, bishops, archbishops, the authority of 
princes in matters ecclesiastical, confirmation, and other the h'ke questions. Whit- 
gift replied in A Defense of the Ecclesiasticall Regi77ie7it in Englande defaced 
by T. C. i7i his Replie agai7iste D. Whitgifte, 1574, and in The Defense of ihe 
Aiiswere to the Ad7no7iitio7i against the Replye of T. 6'., 1574, pp. 812, folio. 

+ During his sojourn abroad he carried on the controversy respecting the gov- 
ernment of the church. In 1574 he prepared a preface to a Latin work of Walter 
Travers, and translated the work itself under the title : A full and / laine decla- 
. ration of Ecclesiastical Discipli7te out off the Word off God and off the Declin- 
i?tge off the Churche off England fr 0771 the sa77ie. (2d edition, Geneva, 1580.) 
In 1575 he issued the Second Replie of Thomas Cartw7'ight agaynst Maister 
Doctor Whitgifte^s second Au7tswer touching the Churche Discipline, and in 
1587 The Rest of the second Replie. In 1576 he aided the Puritans of the isles 
of Jersey and Guernsey in settling the discipline of the church. This discipline 
was published in 1642 under the title, The Orders for Ecclesiasticall Discipli7te 
according to that which hath been practised si7ice the Refor77iation of the 
Church in his Majesties Doi7iinio7is by the a7icient ministers, elders, a7id dea- 
cons of the isles of Garnsey, Gersey, Spark, and Alde7'ny. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 43 

arrested and cast into prison. His powerful friends, 
however, soon secured his release.* The Puritans in 
England now made rapid progress in the Presbyterian 
organization, so far as it was possible within the national 
Church of England. As early as 1572 a Conference or 
Presbytery had been constituted at Wandsworth, near 
London, where John Field was pastor. Similar Confer- 
ences were secretly formed in different parts of Eng- 
land. A Book of Discipline was prepared by Walter 
Travers and Thomas Cartwright and submitted to a 
Synod in London in 1584. It was revised and adopted, 
and by 1590 had been subscribed to by as many as 500 
ministers in many counties of England.f 

This Presbyterian organization was accomplished by 
secret gatherings through a series of years. When at 
last the prelates learned of it they were greatly alarmed, 
and caused the arrest of Cartwright and other leaders and 
put forth every effort to destroy the '' Holy Discipline." 

The contest between the Prelates and the Puritans 
was complicated by the Brownists and other sectaries. 

Thomas Cartwright was compelled to contend against 
the Prelatical impositions, on the one hand, and the 
Brownist Separatists on the other. August 30, 1590, he 
wrote a letter from Warwick to Mrs. Stubbes, his sister- 
in-law, " to persuade her from Brownism," in which he 
says: 

" Howbeit our Saviour by his callinge not being able to remedy 
these evills, he chose rather to ioyne himself unto the company 
of most notorious wicked men, then that he would separate him- 



* Schaflf-Herzog, Religious Encyclopcedia^ art. Thomas Cartwright. 

t Thomas McCrie, Annals of English Presbytery^ London, 1872, p. 106. 
This Book of Disciphne was pubUshed in London in 1644. It will be found in 
Appendix L The Presbyteiy is sometimes called a Classis, but in Travers' Ful 
and Plain Declaration of Ecclesiastical Discipline, and in Cartwright' s Sacred 
Discipline it is called a Confer ettce, and in the Orders for Ecclesiastical Disci- 
pli7ie, of the isles of Guernsey, etc. , it is called a Collogue. 



44 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

self from the holy things and in them from God whose they are. 
And seinge that by beinge of the wicked unwillingly I take noe 
harme, and am greatly hurte by separacion from the holy things 
of God there is no cause why I should lose the fruite of the one 
for the presence of thother. And consider whether by this 
meanes, you, whose glory is to throwe out of the church, are not 
yourselves throwne out and after a sort excommunicated from 
the holy things of God by every particuler man, who either in 
deede or in your opinion beinge onmeete to communicate, is 
either not so judged by your church, or if he be, yett is in favour 
or feare supported by it." (Harl. MSS. 7581, British Museum. 
Published in the Presbyterian Review, VI., p. 109.) 

But, notwithstanding his opposition to Brownism and 
Separation, and his faithful efforts to reform the Church 
of England from within, in accordance with law, he was 
charged by his unscrupulous foes with all the excesses 
of the radical party. He was summoned before the 
High Commission and the Star Chamber, and imprisoned 
until 1592, when, with broken health, he was released 
through the intercession of powerful friends, on the 
promise of quiet and peaceable behavior. 

Andrew Melville led the battle against Prelacy in 
Scotland. In 1578 the General Assembly adopted the 
Second Book of Discipline. In 1580 the General Assem- 
bly resolved : 

" Forsuameikle as the office of ane bischope, as it is now usit, 
and commonlie taken within this realme, hes no sure warrand, 
auctoritie, or good ground, out of the Scripture of God, but is 
brought in by the folic and corruptione, to the great overthrow 
of the Kirk of God ; The haill Assemblie of the Kirk, in ane 
voyce, efter libertie give to all men to reasone in the matter, 
nane opposing himself in defending the said pretended office — 
Finds and declares the said pretended office, usit and termit as 
is above said, unlawful in the self, as haveing naither founda- 
ment, ground, nor warrant, within the Word of God." (Alex. 
Peterkin, Booke of the Universal! Kirk of Scotland, Edinburgh, 
1839, p. 194.) 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN EUROPE. 45 

In the same year John Craig drew up the National 
Covenant, which was signed by the king and his nobles, 
the ministers and the entire nation. They covenanted 
to renounce Popery and support the Protestant religion. 
Melville carried the Reformation in Scotland a stage 
further.* The Church was constructed in a thorough 
Presbyterian system rising from the Presbytery through 
the Provincial Synod to the General Assembly, and it 
looked forward to an oecumenical Assembly.f 

But in 1584 King James and his nobles restored episco- 
pacy ; a servile Parliament passed the '''' Black Acts,'' and 
put the whole government of the Church in the hands of 
the king ; and the Presbyterian leaders were forced into 
exile. But they returned in 1585, and a compromise 
was made in 1586, when the General Assembly consented 
to a modified episcopacy. The bishops were to be re- 
sponsible to the General Assembly, and act according to 
the advice of the Synods and Presbyteries.;}: 

The conflict between the Puritans and Prelatists con- 
tinued to increase in bitterness. Dr. Bancroft, Feb. 9, 
1588, claimed divine right for Prelacy, and soon after 
charged the Scottish Presbyterians with " Genevating," 
and the English Puritans with *' Scottizing" in their dis- 
cipline. This excited national animosity. In 1592 the 
bishops were again overthrown in Scotland, and the na- 
tional Church was re-established on a Presbyterian basis. 

In 1603 James of Scotland, by the death of Queen 
Elizabeth, became king of England. The English Puri- 
tans expected to find a friend in a Scottish king, but 



* " Knox held episcopacy to be lawful, but not convenient ; an allowable form 
of government, but not the purest or the best. Melville held episcopacy to be 
unlawful — opposed to Scripture — allowable in no circumstances, " {Cunningham, 
Church Hist. Scotland^ I., p. 439.) 

t Thomas McCrie, Life of Andrew Melville, Edinburgh, 1819, I., pp. 169 seq. 

\ Peterkin, in /. ^., p. 294. 



46 A^IERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

were sorely disappointed. They presented to the king; 
on his way to London, a petition signed by nearly a 
thousand ministers (called the Millenary petition), but 
with little effect. In 1604 a conference was held at 
Hampton Court between the Puritans and the Prelates- 
in the presence of the king ; Dr. Reynolds, of Cambridge, 
being the chief representative of the Puritans, and 
Bishop Bancroft of the Prelates. The king went over 
to the party of the prerogative upon the theory, " no 
bishop, no king "; and the Puritans were dismissed from 
his presence with the feeling that their cause was more 
desperate than ever. 

The leading Scottish ministers were invited to Lon- 
don, and there bullied and insulted by the king and his 
ecclesiastics ; and at last imprisoned by the arbitrary 
monarch, who took delight in the humiliation of his 
countrymen.* Andrew Melville was released from prison 
to accept a professorship at Sedan, France, where he 
soon died. Many of the Scottish and English Puritans 
fled from the kingdom. Prelacy again triumphed over 
Presbytery in Scotland. The Presbyterian heroes. Cart- 
wright and Melville, had fallen in the struggle ; King 
James was master in church and state, and the churches 
of Great Britain were governed on the theory that " the 
bishops must rule the ministers, and the king both, in 
things indifferent and not repugnant to the Word of 

God."t 

The persecution of the Puritans in England resulted 
in the firm establishment of Puritanism in Ireland. This 
was the only bright spot in the British isles during these 
troublous times. A noble body of Puritan prelates 
and ministers were in charge of the Irish Protestant 



*McCric, Lz/e of Andrew Melville, II., pp. 237 seq. 

t Cunningham, Church History of Scotland^ II., p. 32. Spottiswoode, His- 
tory 0/ the Church cf Scotland^ Edinburgh, 1851, Vol. III., p. 241. 



THE RISE OF PRESBY rERIANISM IN EUROPE. 47 

Church. In 1 594 Walter Travers, the associate of Thomas 
Cartwright, was invited to Dublin by his friend, Arch- 
bishop Loftus, and was appointed provost of the new 
Trinity College. Here he became the teacher of Ussher, 
and trained the young Protestants of Ireland in Presby- 
terianism. To Ireland the persecuted Puritans of Eng- 
land and Scotland fled in large numbers, and were pro- 
tected and encouraged, as far as possible, by the Puritan 
prelates.* 

British Presbyterians, at the close of the sixteenth 
century, were in extreme misery in Scotland and Eng- 
land, and were not without troubles even in Ireland ; but 
they were being prepared by the passive endurance of 
wrong for the severer struggle which awaited them un- 
der Charles II., when their fortitude and perseverance 
were to be rewarded with the divine blessing and abun- 
dant success. 

We have traced the rise of Presbyterianism in Europe, 
and found it to be the result of the development of the 
Christianity of Jesus Christ, as that Christianity came in 
conflict with human errors in the successive periods of 
history. Presbyterianism is built upon all the previous 
constructions of Christianity. It is Christian, CathoHc, 
Orthodox, Protestant, and Puritan. It comprehends all 
these characteristics, and rises upon them to the dis- 
tinctive traits of Presbyterianism. 



* " Provided they were removed out of England and Scotland, vi'here they so 
frequently opposed his arbitrary measures, James cared little for their existence 
and influence in this remote and turbulent country. These exiles, in conjunction 
with the Scottish clergy who had accompanied their countrymen in the late 
plantation of Ulster, and had been promoted to bishopricks and other ecclesi- 
astical dignities, gave that tone to the religious sentiments of the kingdom by 
which it was distinguished from the sister country." (Reid, History 0/ the Pres- 
byteriatt Church in IreluJid^ I., p. 89.) 



CHAPTER II. 

THE STRUGGLE OF PRESBYTERIANISM FOR SUPREM- 
ACY IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

After the death of Archbishop Bancroft, in 1610, the 
Puritans enjoyed a brief season of rest. George Abbot 
was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and he quietly 
but steadily reversed the policy of the prelates who had 
preceded him. But the Puritan prelate soon lost influ- 
ence with the king, and the most he could do was to use 
his high office to restrain persecution and protect the 
persecuted Puritans. During this time the Irish Puri- 
tans were active. The Irish Parliament summoned a 
convocation of the clergy, in 161 5, to secure a doctrinal 
standard for Ireland. The Puritans were unwilling to 
adopt the XXXIX Articles. They preferred a national 
confession for Ireland which should stand on an equal 
footing with the national confessions of England and 
Scotland, inasmuch as both England and Scotland were 
represented in the ministry and Protestant population of 
Ireland. They also desired a confession which would 
better express the Puritan faith. What the Hampton 
Court conference failed in accomplishing, owing to the 
opposition of the English prelates and the tyranny 
of King James, was now happily accomplished by the 
church of Ireland. James Ussher, the pupil of Walter 
Travers, was at this time professor of divinity in Trinity 
College, Dublin. He was selected to draft the articles. 
They were admirably framed, and gave an excellent ex- 
position of Puritan doctrine. They state the Puritan 
doctrine of the Scriptures and the Sabbath ; imply the 
148) 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 49 

Presbyterian doctrine of the Church ; and avoid the ob- 
noxious ceremonies. These articles were adopted as the 
Articles of Religion of the Church of Ireland, and sub- 
sequently became the basis of the Westminster Con- 
fession.* 

In 1620 Ussher was made bishop of Meath, and in 1623 
archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland. Under 
his administration Puritanism prospered ; English Pres- 
byterians settled in Dublin and the adjacent parts ; and 
Scotch Presbyterians established themselves in Ulster, 
among the latter the distinguished Welsh, Stewart, Dun- 
bar, and Livingston, who laid the foundations of Presby- 
terianism in the North of Ireland.f They were perse- 
cuted by Bishop Echlin, but protected by Archbishop 
Ussher. 

King James was entirely under the influence of favor- 
ites, who led him into the most arbitrary measures in 
church and state. He took delight in humiliating his 
Scottish subjects. In 161 7 he went to Edinburgh with 
an array of English prelates, and endeavored to constrain 
Presbyterian Scotland to accept the hated ceremonies. 
In 161 8 a General Assembly was influenced to adopt the 
Five Articles of Perth, enforcing kneeling at the Lord's 
supper, private administration of the sacraments, con- 
firmation by bishops, and the observance of the festi- 
vals of the church. These greatly irritated the Presby- 
terian nation. On his return to England in May, 161 8, 



* A. F. Mitchell, Lecture 07i the Westminster Confession^ Edinburgh, 1866 ; 
Presbyterian Review^ N. Y., I., pp. 153 seq. 

t ♦' Though hke the Enghsh Puritans in the early part of the reign of Eliz- 
abeth, they were comprehended within the pale of the established Episcopal 
Church, enjoying its endowments and sharing its dignities, yet notwithstanding 
this singular position which they occupied, they introduced and maintained the 
several peculiarities, both of discipline and worship, by which the Scottish church 
was distinguished. To them, therefore, the grateful regards of their descendants 
in this country have, from an early period, been directed as the founders of the 
Presbyterian Church in Ireland." (Reid, I., p. 123.) 

4 



50 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the king directed Bishop Moreton to draw up the Book 
of Sports, in opposition to the Puritan Sabbath. It was 
designed to be read in the parish churches through- 
out England, but Archbishop Abbot interposed, firmly- 
resisted it, and prevented its going any further than 
Lancastershire and some other districts where Papists 
abounded. 

I.— WILLIAM LAUD, DICTATOR OF THE BRITISH 
CHURCHES. 

When Charles I. ascended the throne of his fathers in 
1625 the Presbyterians made an earnest effort for relief. 
The Scottish ministers petitioned for the repeal of the 
Articles of Perth, but in vain. The monarch was en- 
tirely under the influence of evil counsellors. William 
Laud became a great favorite of the king, and was rap- 
idly promoted to the highest positions in the church. 
In 1628 he was appointed bishop of London, and his 
ambition took lofty flights. He undertook to change 
the doctrines and worship, the government and the life 
of the three national Churches of the British isles. 

Archbishop Abbot was suspended for resisting the 
new Arminianism ; the jurisdiction of the primate was 
put in the hands of a commission of five bishops, of 
whom Laud was chief ; and so the entire control of ec- 
clesiastical affairs passed into his hands, and Puritanism 
was put under the ban. 

The English parliaments were summoned in 1625, 
1626, and 1629. But, when it was found that they were 
determined to redress the civil and ecclesiastical wrongs 
of the nation, they were speedily dissolved, and absolu- 
tism prevailed in church and state. Thus Presbyterianism 
was identified with liberty and constitutional govern- 
ment. The people and their leaders assumed a stubborn 
resistance ; they were gathering up their energies and 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 5;! 

abiding their time for a supreme effort to overthrow 
prelacy and tyranny, which had also become identical 
terms. Charles I. was urged to greater stretches of the 
royal prerogative by his evil counsellors, who subse- 
quently reaped the due harvest of all their crimes. He 
played the part of a bigot and a despot, and trampled upon 
the conscience, the rights, and the liberties of his peo- 
ple. For eleven years he tried to get on without a Par- 
liament, and thereby lost the confidence of all classes of 
his subjects. He undermined his own throne, and at 
last brought his own stubborn neck to the executioner's 
block. 

Archbishop Laud was chiefly responsible for the evil 
course in ecclesiastical affairs.* He was not content 
with a reconstruction of the Church of England in ac- 
cordance with his Anglo -Catholic notions, and the 
extermination of Puritanism with its Calvinism and 
Presbyterianism ; but he also obtruded his obnoxious 
theories and practices upon the Scottish nation and 



* He was narrow-minded, unscrupulous, haughty ; by no means free from 
irascibility and vindictiveness, blindly ritualistic, and cruelly despotic. For 
years he was the king's most confidential adviser in State as well as in 
Church affairs. He sought and found able and unscrupulous coadjutors in the 
work of "harrying" Puritans out of the Church, and constitutionalists out of 
the State ; setting up, in lieu of their ideal of regulated freedom, the system to 
which he himself gave the name of thorough — thorough absolutism in the 
State, thorough despotism in the Church. He virtually proscribed and stigma- 
tized as Puritanism the old Aug^stinian doctrines, which his predecessor not only 
tolerated but approved, and for which the House of Commons so resolutely con- 
tended. He used the powers of his high office and of the Courts of Star-Cham- 
ber and High Commission with a rigor and savagery unknown before, condemn- 
ing to lifelong imprisonment, or to cruel mutilations, or ruinous fines, men whose 
offences did not justify such extreme proceedings, and meting out to grave di- 
vines, practised lawyers, physicians, and scholars, punishments till then reserved 
for the lowest class of felons and sowers of sedition. 

The indignities perpetrated on Leighton, Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick are 
well known, and the liberation of these sufferers from their long imprisonment, 
and the exhibition of their mutilated faces, raised to its height the popular indig- 
nation against Laud and his accomplices. (A. F. Mitchell, The WestJitinsier 
Assembly^ London, 1883, pp. 83 seg.) 



52 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

an independent Reformed Church ; and he intruded 
with his domination upon the jurisdiction of the pri- 
mate of the Irish Church, the learned and devout Pu- 
ritan, Ussher. He was a usurper in three nations, 
without ecclesiastical or civil right, and in defiance of 
his own Anglo-Catholic theories of church government. 
No pope ever lorded it over the Church with such 
haughty indifference to the sufferings of the ministry 
and people, and with such despotic determination to 
remodel the constitution of three national Churches to 
accord with his own ideal. 

The infamous Wentworth (afterwards the earl of Straf- 
ford) was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in January, 
1632. He undertook to carry out the views of Laud, 
who, in 1633, owing to the death of Abbot, succeeded 
to the primacy of the English Church. Wentworth used 
as his tool his private chaplain, John Bramhall, whom 
he made bishop of Derry in 1634, in place of the learned 
and godly Puritan, Downham. A convocation of the 
Irish clergy was held under his orders in 1634, and they 
were browbeaten into adopting the XXXIX Articles, 
and a book of canons, selected from the English canons. 
These were at once put in operation against the Presby- 
terians. Archbishop Ussher was ignored. He timidly 
submitted to the invasion of his prerogatives. He was 
a splendid scholar, but he was not of the heroic type, 
and in the critical hour was found wanting in the cour- 
age which was indispensable to his own honor and to the 
maintenance of the principles which were dear to him. 

In 1633 Laud advanced in the war against Puritanism 
from the battle against Calvinism to a struggle against 
the Puritan Sabbath. He persuaded King Charles I. to 
revive the Book of Sports^ and put it in operation. 

The ethical element is one of the most characteristic 
elements of Puritanism. The Puritans were not content 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 53 

with the passive attitude of simple faith ; they assumed 
the active attitude of working out their own salvation 
rooted in faith. Human life was to them a battle with 
indwelling sin and with external evil. They went into 
the conflict equipped with Scripture armor and weapons, 
and were assured of victory. Bunyan's Filgrims Prog- 
ress and Holy War are the culmination of a large num- 
ber of writings on this subject. They are the most popu- 
lar because they are in this respect the best exposition 
of the ethical side of Puritanism. 

The ethical battle of Puritanism was fought about the 
Sabbath as a centre. This was forced by the Book of 
Sports. This book had been issued by King James in 
161 8 " to encourage recreations and sports on the Lord's 
day." It discriminated between harmless and lawful 
sports, in which all good churchmen might engage, but 
from which Papists and Puritans were excluded, — and 
unlawful sports. It seems incredible that Christian prel- 
ates should have endorsed such a book, and encouraged 
the violation of the Lord's day in such a way as this. 
The Puritan pastors preferred the law of their heavenly 
King to the book of their earthly monarch. Rather than 
transgress the 4th commandment they gave up their 
livings and suffered fine and imprisonment. The Sab- 
bath is the citadel of Puritan ethics. It is due to Puritan- 
ism alone that Great Britain and America enjoy the rest 
and peace and holy worship of the Lord's day. 

The forced struggle on this and other points gave the 
Puritan piety an Old Testament cast. The Puritans 
were impelled by circumstances to the brink of legalism. 
They did not sufficiently apprehend the different stages 
in the development of Biblical ethics. They imposed 
upon themselves and others not a few rigorous rules and 
irksome restraints which have made Puritanism to many 
a mark of bondage and Pharisaism. But such mistakes 



54 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

are common to all great religious movements.* They 
were committed, however, rather by their feebler de- 
scendants than by the Puritan fathers. It is essential 
that we should distinguish between Puritan and Puri- 
tanical, between the original and genuine Puritan holi- 
ness and its later stereotyped and mechanical Puritanical 
caricature. 

The Puritans were too much influenced by the Old 
Testament in proportion to the New Testament. They 
did not sufficiently apprehend the different stages in 
divine doctrine and morals ; but they were faithful to 
the Word of God as they understood it. And even here 
they wrought out the doctrine of the Covenants. They 
introduced it as the structural principle of their theology. 
They gave the impulse to the Covenant theology of Hol- 
land which became the chief means of resistance to the 
scholasticism of the 17th century, and the rallying point 
for a revival of theology in modern times. f Indeed, 
the Puritans could not be scholastics. The essential 
principle of Puritanism was the foe of all scholasticism and 
ecclesiasticism. The Puritans sought, above all, union 
and communion with God by a living faith and a grow- 
ing faith. They desired above all things to be conformed 
to God's will ; and so they resisted conforming to the 
prelates' will. Their ideal was a holy life in communion 
with God. This was the noble aspiration of Puritanism 



* Isaac Taylor, in his Wesley and Methodism (New York, 1852, p. 81), makes 
the following significant reflections : " But thus it is, and ever has been, that 
those who are sent by Heaven to bring about great and necessary movements, 
which, however, are, after a time, either to subside or to fall into a larger orbit, 
are left to the short-sightedness of their own minds in fastening upon their work 
some appendage (perhaps unobserved) which, after a cycle of revolutions, must 
secure the accomplishment of Heaven's own purpose — the stopping of that move- 
ment. Religious singularities are Heaven's brand imprinted by the unknowing 
hand of man upon whatever is destined to last its season, and to disappear." 

t Mitchell, Westminster Assembly^ p. 377, and Briggs, Biblical Study ^ p. 342. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 55 

which has made British and American society the most 
ethical and upright, the most manly and godly society 
the world has yet seen. The reality and power of godli- 
ness have been displayed in Great Britain and her colo- 
nies more than in any other lands under heaven. In 
them religion has been a reality and a power for prac- 
tical aggressive work in every department of religious 
and moral reform, and for the extension of the gospel 
throughout the world. 

Archbishop Laud next advanced to a struggle with 
Scotland in the field of Public Worship. A new liturgy 
was prepared to displace the Book of Common Order of 
the Scottish Church. A book of canons v/as composed 
to be used as an instrument of torture to the Scottish 
ministry. It was proposed to change the national re- 
formed religion into a new Anglo-Catholic religion, 
devised in the fertile brain of the English Cyprian. The 
Scottish nation declined to abandon the Reformed re- 
ligion. The presumption of the English primate had 
reached its climax. Three nations were agonizing under 
his insufferable tyranny. 

II. — THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT. 

On the 23d of July, 1637, the archbishop of St. An- 
drews, the bishop of Edinburgh, and a large number of 
clergymen assembled in St. Giles church, Edinburgh, to 
introduce the new liturgy. The congregation declined 
to hear it, and the church became the centre of a revo- 
lution which spread like wildfire over Scotland, and ere 
long convulsed the British isles. 

A large and influential body of twenty-four nobles, 
sixty-six commissioners of towns and parishes, and nearly 
a hundred ministers, marched in a body to the council- 
house, Sept. 20th, and presented petitions against the 
liturgy from all parts of the kingdom. But the king 



56 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

ignored the wishes of the nation, and the nation was 
obliged to organize itself to maintain its civil and re- 
ligious rights and liberties. Four committees were ap- 
pointed, called Tables, representing the nobles, the gen- 
try, the burghers, and the ministry, with a central com- 
mittee. The king issued a proclamation insisting on the 
Book of Common Prayer, and commanding the Tables 
to disperse, under penalty of high treason. The Tables 
now resolved to proceed to extremities and unite the 
nation in a solemn league and covenant. This was drawn 
up by Alexander Henderson and Johnston of Warriston, 
and after revision, was adopted and submitted to the 
nation for signature. It was signed with wonderful en- 
thusiasm, and with hands uplifted to heaven. It was an 
act of consecration on the part of the Scottish people, 
which, as to its essence, is one of the noblest transac- 
tions of modern times. The king was compelled to yield 
to the will of the nation. He himself signed the cove- 
nant of 1580, and summoned a free General Assembly. 
The General Assembly met November 21, 1638, in the 
cathedral of Glasgow. The Service Book, the Book of 
Canons, the Five Articles of Perth, and the Bishops were 
all overthrown, and Presbytery again came into power 
and trampled Prelacy in the dust. 

The English Puritans were watching the events in 
Scotland with strained attention. They had suffered 
the extremities of persecution for conscience sake. Many 
of the noblest in church and state had been constrained 
to seek refuge in flight. Others would have gone into 
voluntary exile, but were detained by the authorities, 
who seemed to delight in their miseries. The English 
people were urged on to desperation. 

The Scottish Covenanters forced King Charles to call 
a Parliament in England in order to give him the means 
needed to resist them. But the English Parliament 
was Puritan, and it entered into conflict with the royal 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 57 

prerogative, and showed no disposition to aid the king 
against their brethren in Scotland who were battling 
with them for a common cause. It was therefore dis- 
solved. The Covenanters organized a large and enthu- 
siastic army, under the command of the veteran field- 
marshal Leslie. They crossed the Tweed and encamped 
at Newcastle. Charles I. was now obliged to summon 
a Parliament and consider the demands of the Puritan 
nation. Instead of aiding the king against the Scots, 
the English Parliament combined with the Scots and 
forced the king to sign a treaty, August 10, 1641, look- 
ing toward unity in religion and conformity of church 
government between the two nations in the direction of 
Presbyterianism. 

In the meanwhile the Irish Presbyterians were not 
idle. The Irish Parliament, in 1 641, abolished the court 
of High Commission, and declared its proceedings null 
and void. They set about redressing the grievances of 
the Church. The arbitrary prelates were called to ac- 
count, and the ministry and people again enjoyed peace 
and prosperity. But it was only for a season. The re- 
bellion of the Irish Roman Catholics burst forth, and 
the Protestants were compelled to unite their forces and 
do their utmost to put down the rebellion. The Pres- 
byterians who had fled to Scotland returned with the 
Scottish armies, and the first Irish Presbytery was con- 
stituted by the chaplains of the Scottish regiments in 1642. 
To this Presbytery the Presbyterian people and minis- 
ters of the north of Ireland gave their adherence, and a 
Presbyterian church government was permanently estab- 
lished in Ireland. The Anglo-Catholic prelatical party 
had determined to reduce the British isles to conformity 
with their programme. The Presbyterian party were 
now determined to transform the British isles into a 
Presbyterian kingdom of God. 



58 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

"A great idea was now filling the vision of Presbyterian Scot- 
land. At first it had loomed dimly in the distance ; it had grad- 
ually come nearer and nearer ; and now it seemed quite within 
its grasp. Scotland was ambitious of bestowing upon England 
the blessings of Presbytery. The liberal spirit of the great Re- 
formers, in regard to Episcopacy and Presbytery, had passed 
away. Anglican bishops had claimed for Episcopacy a divine 
right ; almost every Scotch minister now believed Presbytery to 
have a divine right. They thought themselves bound to preach 
this as an article of their faith, and to propagate Presbyterianism 
as a part of their religioci. The zeal of proselytism took hold of 
them, and at this period they verily believed that theirs was to 
be the proud distinction of bringing back prelatic England to 
the purity of apostolic times. Nor were their hopes altogether 
unfounded. A large and powerful party in England were labour- 
ing for the overthrow of the hierarchy. Many of the Puritans 
were known to be Presbyterians ; Independency was still in its 
infancy ; and the parliamentary leaders secured the assistance of 
Scotland by flattering its ambition." (Cunningham, The Church 
History of Scotlaitd, Edinburgh, 1859, pp. 128 seq^ 

It now became manifest that the reorganization of the 
Churches of the three nations should go on harmoniously 
and with a view to uniformity. The Irish rebellion, for 
which Charles I. was largely responsible, irritated still 
more his English and Scottish as well as his Irish Protest- 
ant subjects. They lost confidence in his integrity and 
honor, and suspected that he designed to reduce them 
to popery. The Scottish nation had the advantage of 
its historic General Assembly, which acted promptly in 
the establishment of the Presbyterial government of the 
church in place of the prelatical. But the English na- 
tion had no such precedent. They were obliged to sum- 
mon an Assembly of Divines and learned laymen under 
the protection of Parliament, who should be free from 
the domination of prelates. It was many months before 
this scheme was perfected. In the Grand Remonstrance, 
December i, 1641, it was proposed to the king that there 
should be 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 59 

" a General Synod of the most grave, pious, learned, and judi- 
cious divines of this Island, assisted by some from foreign parts 
professing the same religion with us, who may consider of all 
things necessary for the peace and good government of the 
Church, and represent the results of their consultation to Parlia- 
ment, to be there allowed and confirmed, and receive the stamp 
of authority, thereby to find passage and obedience throughout 
the kingdom." (Masson, Life of Milton, II., pp. 327 seq^ 

But it was not until June i, 1643, that the ordinance 
was passed 

" for the calling of an Assembly of learned and godly divines, ' to 
meet' at Westminster, in the chappell called King Henry the 
Seventh's Chappell on the first day of July, in the year of our 
Lord, 1643 .... to conferre and treat amongst themselves of 
such matters and things touching and concerning the liturgy, 
discipline and government of the Church of England, or the vin- 
dicating and clearing of the doctrine of the same from all false 
aspersions and misconstructions, as shall be proposed unto them 
by both or either of the said houses of Parliament, and no other, 
and to deliver their opinion and advices of or touching the mat- 
ters aforesaid, as shall be most agreeable to the Word of God, to 
both or either of the said houses, from time to time, in such 
manner or sort as by both or either of the said houses of Parlia- 
ment shall be required." 

The Assembly met, in accordance with the ordinance, 
on Saturday, July i, 1643, in Westminster Abbey, "with 
a great congregation besides "; and listened to a sermon 
by the prolocutor on John xiv. 18. "After sermon all 
the members of the Assembly present went into Henry 
VII. 's Chapel, where the names being called, the ap- 
pearance of names that day was sixty-nine, or there- 
abouts." * 

August 4th, the Westminster Assembly united with 
Parliament in addressing letters to the General Assem- 



* John Lightfoot, Journals^ in his Collected Works^ London, 1824 ; xiii., p. 3. 



60 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

bly of the Church of Scotland, requesting that they 
would, 

" according to their former promise and resolution, send to the 
Assembly here such number of godly and learned divines as in 
their wisdom they think most expedient for the furtherance of 
the work which so much concerns the honour of God, the pros- 
perity and peace of the two Churches of England and Scotland," 
assuring them " of all testimonies of respect, love, and the right 
hand of fellowship." 

A committee of Parliament, and Stephen Marshall 
and Philip Nye of the Assembly, carried the letters to 
Scotland. The General Assembly of the Church of 
Scotland sent Alexander Henderson and George Gilles- 
pie, ministers, and Lord Maitland, ruling elder,* 

"to repaire unto the Assembly of Divines and others of the 
Kirke of England, now sitting at Westminster, to propound, 
consult, treat, and conclude with them .... in all such things 
as may conduce to the utter extirpation of Popery, Prelacie, 
Heresie, Schisme, Superstition, and Idolatrie, and for the set- 
tling of the so-much-desired union of the whole Island in one 
forme of church government, one confession of faith, one com- 
mon catechism, and one directory for the worship of God." 

They sent with their commissioners the Solemn League 
and Covenant. This was prepared by Henderson on the 
basis of the earlier covenants, and after some modifica- 
tion was adopted with great enthusiasm in Scotland and 
by the English committees. It was approved by the 
Westminster Assembly and the English Parliament with 
some slight amendments ; and then on Monday, Sep- 
tember 25th, the Westminster Assembly, with the House 
of Commons, took the Solemn League and Covenant in 
St. Margaret's church, Westminster, lifting up their 



* Robert Bailie, Samuel Rutherford, and Johnston of Warriston, soon rein- * 
forced them. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. Ql 

hands at the conclusion of every clause, and then subse- 
quently signing it. They solemnly swore : 

" I. That we shall sincerely, really, and constantly, through 
the grace of God, endeavor, in our several places and callings, 
the preservation of the Reformed religion in the Church of Scot- 
land, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, against 
our common enemies ; the reformation of religion in the king- 
doms of England and Ireland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, 
and government, according to the Word of God and the ex- 
ample of the best Reformed Churches ; and shall endeavor to 
bring the Churches of God in the three kingdoms to the near- 
est conjunction and uniformity in religion, confession of faith, 
form of church government, directory for worship, and catechis- 
ing ; that we, and our posterity after us, may, as brethren, live in 
faith and love, and the Lord may delight to dwell in the midst 
of us. 2. That we shall, in like manner, without respect of per- 
sons, endeavor the extirpation of Popery, Prelacy (/. e., church 
government by archbishops, bishops, their chancellors and com- 
missaries, deans and chapters, archdeacons, and all other ecclesi- 
astical officers depending on that Hierarchy), superstition, heresy, 
schism, profaneness, and whatsoever shall be found to be con- 
trary to sound doctrine and the power of godliness ; lest we par- 
take in other men's sins, and thereby be in danger to receive of 
their plagues, and that the Lord may be one and his name one in 
the three kingdoms." * 

III. — THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 

The Westminster Assembly was composed of 121 di- 
vines, carefully selected by the Lords and Commons, 
representing all the counties of England and Wales, and 
the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Ireland was 
represented by its primate Ussher and its professor of 
divinity at Trinity College, Dublin, Joshua Hoyle. The 
Lords were represented by ten nobles, and the Commons 
by twenty of their ablest men. England was now, for 



* We give only the two most essential clauses of this Covenant. The whole is 
given in Schaff's Creeds of Christendom^ I., p. 690. 



g2 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

the first time, equitably represented in an ecclesiastical 
Assembly. England has never since been in the position 
to secure such another full representation of English 
Protestantism as the Westminster Assembly afforded. 
The three great parties which now divide British Prot- 
estantism were adequately represented among the learned 
divines named in the ordinance. 

Of the defenders of Episcopacy were Archbishop 
Ussher, Bishops Brownrigge and Westfield, Drs. Featley, 
Hackett, Hammond, Holdsworth (Master of Emanuel Col- 
lege, Cambridge), Morley, Nicholson, Saunderson (Pro- 
fessor of Divinity at Oxford), Ward (Master of Sidney 
Sussex College), all able men, and doubtless others.* Of 
the Independents, the five who had returned from exile 
in Holland, Thos. Goodwin, Philip Nye, William Bridge, 
Jeremiah Burroughs, and Sidrach Simpson, were the 
chief ; but others held their opinions in whole or in 
part. The main portion was selected, from the necessity 
of the case, from the great body of the ordained ministry 
of the Church of England, who had long been Puritans 
and Presbyterians. These controlled the Assembly, not 
without severe and long-continued struggles with the 
Independents ; and also with the Erastians, especially 
John Lightfoot, Thos. Coleman, and John Selden, who 
were in many respects the ripest scholars in the body. 

The Assembly, immediately after its organization, set 
to work upon the revision of the XXXIX Articles. 
This engaged their attention until Oct. 12, 1643, f when 
they received an order from Parliament : 



* But only Bishop Westfield and Dr. Featley attended, for a short time— the 
former dying June 25, 1644, the latter being expelled in September, 1643. 

+ The work of revision had extended through fifteen important articles. It 
was never resumed. However, the labor was not fruitless. By act of Assembly 
and Parliament these revised articles were used as a temporary standard until 
the Confession of Faith could be completed. (Briggs, Doc. Hist. West. Assem- 
bly^ Presbyterian Review^ I., pp. lapseq^ 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. ^3 

"to forthwith confer and treat among themselves, of such disci- 
pline and government as may be most agreeable to God's holy- 
word, and most apt to procure and preserve the peace of the 
church at home, and nearer agreement with the Church of Scot- 
land and other reformed Churches abroad, to be settled in this 
Church in stead and place of the present church government by- 
archbishops, bishops, .... which is resolved to be taken away." 

The Assembly went at once to work and labored 
faithfully until July 4, 1645, when the draft of Church 
Government was sent up to Parliament.* 

During these long months a serious conflict was waged 
between the three parties in the Assembly — the Eras- 
tians, the Independents, and the Presbyterians — and by 
the same parties throughout the nation. The Assembly 
refrained from sending up their decision for a long time, 
hoping for an accommodation with the Independents, 
but in vain. This delay was fatal to Presbyterian su- 
premacy in England. 

Outside the Assembly the leaders on both sides first 
united in the effort to prevent debate, and published : 
" Certain considerations to dissuade men from further 
gathering of churches in this present juncture of time, 
subscribed by diverse divines of the Assembly hereafter 
mentioned!' London, 1643. Among these were Twisse, 
Marshall, Herle, Tuckney, Palmer, on the one side ; and 
Goodwin, Nye, Greenhill, and Burroughs, on the other. 
They say : 

" That it is not to bee doubted, but the councells of the Assem- 
bly of Divines, and the care of the Parliament will be, not onely 
to reforme and set up Religion throughout the nation, but will 
concurre to preserve whatever shall appeare to be the rights of 
particular congregations, according to the Word, and to beare 
with such whose consciences cannot in all things conforme to 



* It was entitled The Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines^ now sitting 
by Ordinance of Parliament at Westminster^ concerning Church Government. 



64 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the publicke rule, so farre as the Word of God would have them 
borne vvithall." 

Charles Herle reduced the difference between Presby- 
terians and Independents to a minimum in his ^^Inde- 
pendency 071 Scriptures of the Lidependeytcy of Churches^' 
1643. But the pubHcation of the ^^ Apologetical Narra- 
tion^' December 30, 1643, after its presentation to Par- 
liament, brought on a fierce discussion."^ 

Inside the Assembly the debate was carried on in a 
series of papers pro and con., which were collected and 
published, by order of Parliament, by Adoniram Byfield.f 

When accommodation became hopeless the Presbyte- 
rians acted with suf^cient promptness. The Assembly, 
April 19, 1644, sent up 2, Directory for Ordination.X and 
October 2d, Parliament, with the advice of the Assembly, 
appointed thirty-three divines for the ordination of 
ministers pro tempore. 

August 19, 1645, Parliament passed an ordinance 
giving 

" directions of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, 
after advice had with the Assembly of Divines, for the electing 
and choosing of Ruling elders in all the Congregations and in 



* In this discussion Thomas Edwards, in his '•'■Antapologia^^'' July, 1644, and 
his " Gattgrcziia^'''' three parts, 1646; Dr. Bastwick, in his ^'■Independency not 
God's Ordinance^''' 1645, and " The utter Routing 0/ the whole ariny of all the 
Independejits and Sectaries^''' 1646, and others on the side of Presbyterians ; and 
Henry Burton, John Goodwin, and others, in numerous tracts and books, on 
the side of the Independents, took part. 

t The Reasons Presented by the Dissenting Brethren against certaiji Propo- 
sitions concerning Presbyterian Gover7tment and the Proofs of them voted by 
the Assembly cf Divines^ sitting by atithority of Parliament at West7ninster, 
together with the Answer of the Assembly of Divines to those Reasons of Dis- 
sent, London, 1648 ; afterwards they were republished under the title : The 
Grand Debate concerning Presbytery and fjtdependency, 1652. 

X To the Right Honorable the Lords and Cominons assembled in Parliament : 
The Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines tiow sitting by ordifiance of 
Parliament at Westminster, concerning the Doctrinal part of Ordination of 
Ministers. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. Q^ 

the Classical Assemblies for the cities of London and Westmin- 
ster and the several counties of the kingdom, for the speedy 
settling of the Presbyterian Government." 

This ordinance divided the Province of London into 
twelve classical elderships, composed of from eight to 
sixteen churches each.^ The congregational assemblies 
were to meet every week and the classical assemblies 
every month. The Provincial Assembly was to be com- 
posed of at least two ministers and four ruling elders 
out of every classis. The National Assembly was to 
be composed of two ministers and four ruling elders 
from each Provincial Assembly, and to meet when sum- 
moned by Parliament. Thus a uniform principle of 
representation was established from the lowest to the 
highest court. The elders were to be double the num- 
ber of the ministers, and each court received representa- 
tives from the lower court, and sent representatives to 
the higher court, and indeed the same number relatively, 
so that all of the ecclesiastical bodies were proportion- 
ately representative. 

On October 20, 1645, there was passed, 

"An ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parlia- 
ment, together with rules and directions concerning suspension 
from the sacrament of the Lord's supper in cases of ignorance 
and scandall, also the names of such ministers and others as are 
appointed triers and judges of the ability of elders in the twelve 
classes within the Province of London." 

On November 8, Parliament passed, 

"An ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parlia- 
ment for giving power to all the classical Presbyteries within 
their respective bounds to examine, approve, and ordain minis- 
ters for severall congregations." 



* The I. Presb. was to have i6 churches ; II., 15 ; III., 12 ; IV., 14 ; V., 12 ; 
VI., 13; VII., 9; VIII., 10; IX., 13; X., 9; XL, 8; XII., 8; or, in all, 139 
congregational elderships. 

5 



g6 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

March 14, 1645 [6], an ordinance of the Lords and 
Commons was issued, 

" For keeping of scandalous persons from the sacrament of the 
Lord's supper, the enabling of congregations for the choice of 
elders, and supplying of defects in former ordinances and direc- 
tions of Parliament concerning Church Government." 

It was herein ordained : 

" that there be forthwith a choice made of elders throughout the 
kingdom of England and dominion of Wales ; . . . . that the 
classical Assemblies in each province shall assemble themselves 
within one month after they shall be constituted and this ordi- 
nance published ; . . . . that out of every congregational elder- 
ship there shall be two elders or more, not exceeding the number 
of four, and one minister, sent to every classis." 

This was not satisfactory to the Assembly, and on the 
20th Mr. Marshall moved, " that since there were some 
things in that ordinance which did lie ver>^ heavy upon 
his conscience and the consciences of many of his breth- 
ren, that the Assembly would consider what is fit to be 
done in the business." 

After debate a committee (Mr. Marshall chairman) 
was appointed to draw up a petition, which was adopted 
and sent up to Parliament. This was the occasion of 
sore trouble to the Assembly ; for April 30th a commit- 
tee of the House of Commons, headed by Sir John 
Evelyn, came to the Assembly to inform them that they 
had broken the privileges of Parliament in the late peti- 
tion ; and they delivered to the Assembly nine questions 
respecting the /us Diviniim, which they required to be 
answered. The Assembly at once entered on the con- 
sideration of these, and continued at work upon them 
until July 22d, when they were ordered by the Com- 
mons to lay aside other business and apply themselves 
to the Confession of Faith and Catechism."^ This ques- 

* Minutes, p. 558 ; Masson, iii., p. 426. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. Q^ 

tion was resumed after the completion of the Confession 
and the Catechism, but was never finished by the Assem- 
bly. The answer had been made by the ministers of 
London. 

In the meanwhile the Assembly took up the Directory 
of Public Worship. May 24, 1644, the discussion began 
upon this subject and continued until Dec. 27, when it 
was finished and sent up to the Commons. It passed 
the Commons March 13, 1644(5), and was ordered to be 
printed and observed.* 

August 23, 1645, a further ordinance was passed,f or- 
daining : 

" That if any person or persons whatsoever shall at any time 
or times hereafter use or cause the aforesaid Booke of Common 
Prayer to be used in any church, chappel, or publique place of 
worship, or in any private place of family worship, .... every 
such person .... shall for the first offence forfeit and pay the 
sum of five pounds, .... for the second offence the sum of ten 
pounds, and for the third offence shall suffer one whole year im- 
prisonment without baile or mainprize. And it is further hereby 
ordained .... that the several and respective ministers of all 
parishes, churches, and chappels .... shall respectively from 
time to time, and at all times hereafter, .... pursue and ob- 
serve the Directory for Publique Worship established by ordi- 
nance of Parliament, according to the true intent and meaning 
thereof." 

The Westminster Assembly also agreed upon a Con- 
fession of Faith and a Larger a7td a Shorter Catechism^ 
which received the sanction of the English Parliament 



*^ Directory for the PuUigue Worship of God throughout the three King- 
domes of England^ Scotland^ and Ireland^ together with an ordinance of Parlia- 
ment for the taking away of the Book of Common Prayer^ and for establishing 
and observi7tg of this present Directory throughout the Kingdom of England 
and Dominion of Wales. 

\ For the more effectual putting in execution the Directory for Public 
Worship in all parish churches and chappels within the Kingdome of England 
and Dominion of Wales. 



68 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

in 1648. These doctrinal symbols were framed with ex- 
ceeding care, and contain the best representation of the 
Reformed doctrines of the Puritan and Presbyterian 
type. As Prof. A. F. Mitchell admirably says : 

" It was meant to be as comprehensive as the accepted theology 
of the Reformation would at all permit, as tolerant as the times 
would yet bear. If its members had one idea more dominant 
than any other it was not, as they are sometimes still caricatured, 
that of setting forth with greater one-sidedness and exaggeration 
the doctrines of election and preterition (for they did little more 
as to these mysterious topics than repeat what Ussher had already 
formulated), but that of setting forth the whole scheme of Re- 
formed doctrine in harmonious development, in a form of which 
their country should have no cause to be ashamed in presence of 
any of the sister churches of the Continent, and above all in a 
form which would conduce greatly to the fostering of Christian 
knowledge and Christian life." (Mitchell, Westminster Assembly, 
p. 127.) 

All these productions of the Westminster Assembly 
were sanctioned by the Scottish aswell as the English Par- 
liament. They were also adopted by the General Assem- 
bly of the Church of Scotland in place of the older sym- 
bols of the Scottish Reformation. '' In all this it had 
shown a self-sacrificing spirit. It had thrown aside its 
own * Confession of Faith,' and its own * Book of Com- 
mon Order,' both the legacy of Knox, that its cove- 
nanted uniformity with England might be secured." * 

IV.— THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF LONDON. 
The London Presbyterian minsters had been drawing 
closer together during the whole time of the civil com- 
motions. They were accustomed to meet at Sion Col- 
lege. They had already acted together in an informal 
way in the production of several important documents.f 

♦ Cunningham, Church HistoTy of Scoiland^ II., pp. 154-5. 
tThus, on the first of January, 1645(6), they adopted "^ letter of the min 
isters of the city of London,''^ a.ga.\ns\. Toleration^ which was presented to the 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. QQ 

The most important of these is the answer to the nine 
questions respecting the " ^us divinum " which the Par- 
liament required the Westminster Assembly to answer 
April 30, 1646.* 

This document maintains that "there is a Church 
Government of divine right under the New Testa- 
ment," that the rule of that Government is Holy Scrip- 
ture, the fountain of it Jesus Christ as mediator ; that it 
is a spiritual power or authority derived from Jesus 
Christ, and exercised by church officers endowed by 
Him ; that the several acts of this power are : public 
prayer and thanksgiving, singing of psalms, public min- 
istry of the Word of God in the congregation, in read- 
ing the scriptures and singing, the catechetical pro- 
pounding or expounding of the Word ; the administra- 
tion of the sacraments ; the ordination of Presbyters 
with imposition of the hands of the Presbytery ; the au- 
thoritative discerning and judging of doctrine according 
to the Word of God, admonition and public rebuke of 
sinners ; rejecting, purging out or putting away from 
the communion of the Church, wicked and incorrigible 
persons ; seasonable remitting, receiving, comforting, and 
authoritative confirming again in the communion of the 
Church, those that are penitent ; taking special care for 
relief of the necessities and distresses of the poor and 
afflicted members of the Church. The end of this gov- 



Westminster Assembly, in which they contend that Independency is a schism, 
because, say they, (i) Independents do depart from our churches, being true 
churches, and so acknowledged by themselves ; (2) They draw and seduce our 
members from our congregations ; (3) They erect separate congregations under 
a separate and undiscovered government ; (4) They refuse communion with our 
churches in the sacrament, etc. 

* Jus divinum Regiminis Ecclesiastici ; or, the divine right of Church 
Government asserted atid evidenced by the holy Scriptures, . ... by sundry 
ministers 0/ Christ within the City of London. It was published in 1646, and 
then revised in a second edition in 1647. 



YO AMERICAN PRESBTTEHIANISM. 

ernment is the edifying of the Church of Christ. The 
receptacle of this power of church government is not the 
civil magistrate, as the Erastians contend, nor the ccetus 
fldelmm or body of the people, as presbyterated, or un- 
presbyterated, as the Separatists and Independents pre- 
tend, but Christ's own officers which He hath created 
jure divino in His Church. These officers are (i) pastors 
and teachers ; (2) ruling elders ; (3) deacons. The power 
of the keys or proper ecclesiastical power is distributed 
among these church officers so that the deacons have the 
care of the poor, the ruling elders and pastors combined 
the power of jurisdiction, the pastors and teachers the 
preaching of the Word and administration of sacraments. 
The Presbytery is the body of ruling elders and pastors 
having this power of jurisdiction which may be the lesser 
Assemblies, consisting of the ministers and ruling elders 
in each single congregation, called the parochial Presby- 
tery, or congregational eldership ; and the greater As- 
semblies, consisting of church governors sent from several 
churches and united into«one body for government of all 
those churches within their own bounds. These greater 
Assemblies are either Presbyterial or Synodal — Presby- 
terial, consisting of the ministers and elders of several 
adjacent or neighboring single congregations or parish 
churches, called the Presbytery or Classical Presbytery ; 
Synodal, consisting of ministers and elders sent from Pres- 
byterial Assemblies to consult and conclude about matters 
of common and great concernment to the Church within 
their limits ; and these are either Provincial^ embracing 
ministers and elders from several Presbyteries within 
one province ; National, ministers and elders from sev- 
eral provinces within one nation ; and (Ecumenical, minis- 
ters and elders from the several nations within the whole 
Christian world. These are all of divine right, and there 
is a divine right of appeals from the lower to the higher 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. ^1 

bodies, and of the subordination of the lower to the 
higher in the authoritative judging and determining of 
causes ecclesiastical. 

The difference between Parliament and the Assembly, 
with regard to exclusion from the Lord's supper, and the 
Jus divinum, delayed the organization of the church, so 
that the first meeting of the Provincial Assembly of 
London took place on May 3, 1647, in the convocation 
house of St. Paul's church.* 

There were present at the first meeting, May 3, 1647, 
representatives from eight out of the twelve Classes. 
Dr. William Gouge was chosen moderator.f 

A further ordinance of Parliament w^as issued Januaiy 
29, 1647(8), ** For the speedy dividing and settling the 
several counties of this kingdom into distinct classical 
Presbyteries and congregational elderships." 

On the 29th of August, 1648, "The form of Church 
Government to be used in the Church of England and Ire- 



* There are preserved in the library of Sion College, London, the orig;inal and 
apparently official minutes of the Provincial Assembly of London from May 3, 
1647, until August 15, 1660. These were obtained from the library of Lazarus 
Seaman (one of the Westminster divines, the last Moderator of the Assembly) in 
1676, and presented by Thos. Granger, September 20, 1726, to the library of 
Sion College. Thsy contain (besides the minutes) the four papers adopted by the 
body, (i) "Vindication of the Presbyterian Government," published November 
2, 1649. (2) " jfus Divmum Minist. Evang. — or, the Divine Right of the Gos- 
pel Ministry," November 2, 1653, (3) " An Exhortation to Catechizing," August 
30, 1655. (4) An uniinished exhortation or circular letter. The title-page is, 
*' Records of the Provincial Assembly of London begun by ordinance of Parlia- 
ment, May 3, in the convocation house of Paul's, London, 1647." There is also 
in the Williams Library, Grafton Street, London, in the third volume of the 
Minutes of the Westminster Assembly, minutes of the Provincial Assembly of 
London from the third session of the eighth Assembly, November 27, 1650, until 
the thirteenth session of the sixteenth Assembly, April 24, 1655, in much briefer 
and more careless style than the one mentioned above. 

t During the sessions of this Assembly the London ministers drew up and sub- 
scribed a vindication of themselves with regard to the strife between the army 
and the city, which was signed by about twenty of them and presented to a 
Committee of Parliament, August 2, 1647. (Neal, IL, p. 447.) 



Y2 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

land : agreed upon by the Lords and Commons assembled 
in Parliament, after advice had with the Assembly of 
Divines." It was ordered 

"that there be forthwith a choice made of elders throughout the 

kingdom of England and dominion of Wales There shall 

be out of every congregational eldership two elders or more, not 
exceeding the number of four, and one minister, sent to every 

classis That the number of the members sent from every 

classis shall be so proportioned as that the Provincial Assemblie 
may be more in number than any classical Presbyterie, and to 
that end there shall be at the least two ministers and foure rul- 
ing elders out of every classis The National Assembly 

shall be constituted of members chosen by, and sent from, the 
severall Provincial Assemblies aforesaid; the number of the 
members from each Province to the National Assembly shall be 
two ministers, foure ruling elders, and five learned and godly per- 
sons from each Universitie. That the National Assembly shall 
meete when they shall be summoned by Parliament, to sit and 
continue as the Parliament shall order, and not otherwise." 

On the 30th of November, 1648, Charles I. was seized 
by the Cromwellians ; on the 6th of December the Pres- 
byterian members of the House of Commons were ex- 
pelled to the number of 140; the remnant, constituting 
the " Rump Parliament," resolved to try the king, and 
on January ist nominated a court of 150 commissioners ; 
the House of Lords was abolished ; on the 20th of Jan- 
uary Charles L appeared before the court to deny its 
competence, and refused to plead ; but he was found 
guilty and condemned to death, and on the 30th of 
January, 1648(9), was executed. Against all these ille- 
gal proceedings the London Presbyterian ministers pro- 
tested.* 



* On Jannury i8th they subscribed with their names " A serious and faithful 
represetttation of the yudgvients of the ministers of the gospel within the Prov- 
ince of London^ co7ttained in a letter from them to the Generall and his Councell 
of War re ^ delivered to his Excellency by some of the subscribers yattuary i8, 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 73 

- May I, 1649, the Provincial Assembly of Lancashire 
was constituted of three ministers and six elders from 
each classis.* No other Provincial Assemblies were 
organized in England, but several Classes were organ- 
ized preparatory to Provincial Synods in other coun- 
ties. The Presbyterian organization of the Church of 
England was now brought to a halt by the interference 
of Cromwell and the Independents, who had assumed 
the authority in Great Britain. 

v.— PRESBYTERIANISM AND INDEPENDENCY. 

The Westminster Assembly had accomplished its task. 
The Presbyterian form of government was getting into 
working order in England and Ireland in accordance 
with the Westminster model. It attained national or- 
ganization only in Scotland. But the iron hand of 
Cromwell prevented further progress. The Presbyte- 
rians were constitutionalists. They were opposed to 



1648, published, London, January 20." (See also for the names [47] Neal, XL, 
P- 535-) Baxter in his Penitent Confession^ London, 1691, says that these men, 
who were not restored until Monk and his Presbyterian army restored them, 
" abhor'd the Commonwealth engagement ; And so did all the ministers of my 
acquaintance save Independents." (p. 60.) 

Again, " An apologetical declaration 0/ the conscientious Presbyterians of the 
Province of Loftdon and of many thousands of other faithful and Covenant- 
keeping citizens and inhabitants within the said city atid suburbs thereof 
wherein their firmnesse and faithfubiess to their first principles and to their 
solemn league and Covettattt is conscientiously declared ; and the Covenant- 
breaking and apostacy of others is disclaimed and abhorred before God and the 
whole world.'''' Jan. 24, 1648(9). This was also signed largely, but the names 
are not in the published paper. 

Also, "^ vindication of the ministers of the Gospel in and about London^ 
from the uijust aspersions cast upon their Jormer actings for the Parliament 
as if they had promoted the bringing 0/ the king to capitall punish7nent, with 
a short exhortation to the people to keep close to their covenatct engage7nenty 
Jan. 27, 1648(9). 

* The classes had been previously organized. The Cheetam Library at Man- 
chester contains the minutes of the first classis of Lancaster. The first meeting 
was held February 16, 1646(7), Mr. Heyrick moderator. 



^14: AMERICAN PRESS YTERIANISM. 

the protectorate. They strove to constrain the mon- 
arch to a constitutional government. They looked upon 
the execution of Charles I. with horror. They immedi- 
ately recognized his son Charles II. and strove to bend 
him to the British constitution. The Scottish Presbyte- 
rians constrained him to take the Solemn League and 
Covenant and then rallied to his standard. Cromwell 
marched against them and defeated them, but could not 
separate them from the royal cause. Many of the Lon- 
don ministers were apprehended for conspiracy in en- 
deavoring to raise funds for the king, and eight of them 
were sent to the tower. Christopher Love was tried for 
treason and condemned to death. Several of the par- 
ishes and upwards of fifty ministers petitioned for his 
life, but in vain. He was executed August 22, 165 1. 
The English Presbyterians were greatly irritated, but 
they were powerless. 

As the English Puritans were divided into two parties, 
the Presbyterians and the Independents ; so the Presby- 
terians of Scotland separated into two factions : the Res- 
olutioners, led by Douglas, Baillie and Dickson, and the 
Protesters, headed by Patrick Gillespie, James Guthrie, 
and Samuel Rutherford. The Resolutioners tried to 
heal the wounds of the nations by soothing measures 
which would rally all the supporters of the crown to the 
royal standard ; the Protesters insisted that only the 
faithful Covenanters should be recognized. The Reso- 
lutioners gained control of the General Assembly and 
the Parliament of Scotland, and earnestly supported the 
king. The Protesters looked to the Cromwellian party 
for support, and introduced into Scotland the narrower 
and more radical type of Presbyterianism. July, 1653, 
the General Assembly was broken up by the soldiers of 
Cromwell.* 



Cunningham, Church History of Scotland^ II., p. i6g. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 75 

The Provincial Assemblies of London during the 
whole time from the eighth Assembly to the thirteenth 
Assembly discussed the divine right of the Gospel min- 
istry,'^ and finally published their conclusions. 

They could do nothing with Cromwell, and further 
progress in the Presbyterian organization of the Prov- 
inces was impracticable ; but they were all the more 
determined to assert and explain Presbyterian principles. 
This important document is divided into two parts : The 
first contains a justification of the gospel ministry in 
general, the necessity of ordination thereunto by impo- 
sition of hands, and the " unlawfulnesse of private men's 
assuming to themselves either the office or work of the 
ministry, without a lawful call and ordination." The 
second part contains a justification of the present min- 
isters of England, both such as were ordained during the 
prevalency of episcopacy, from the foul aspersions of 
Anti-christianism ; and those who have been ordained 
since its abolition, from the unjust imputation of novelty ; 
and proves that bishop and presbyter are all one in 
Scripture, and that ordination by presbyters is most 
agreeable to the Scripture pattern. 

We note in the epistle to the reader the following di- 
vision of parties in England at the time : 

" (i). Such as are against the very office of the ministry, and 
that affirm, that there is no such office instituted by Christ to be 
perpetual in his Church. We look upon this assertion as de- 
structive unto Christian Religion and to the souls of Christians. 
(2). Such as say, that it is lawful for any men that suppose them- 
selves gifted (though neither ordained, nor approved by able 
men) to assume unto themselves a power to preach the Word 



* November 2, 1653, the discussions were completed, the whole book passed and 
ordered to be published, signed by the Moderator, Assessors, and Scribes, and 
thanks were gfiven to Mr. Calamy and Mr. Cranford ' ' for their great pains on 
the book." It was published in the following year, under the title, Jus Divinum 
mim'sten't evangelici. 



Y6 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

and administer the Sacraments. This opinion we judge to be 
the highway to all disorder and confusion, an inlet to errours 
and heresies, and a door opened for priests and Jesuites to 
broach their Popish and Anti-christian doctrine. (3). Such as 
hold, that the ministry of Etigland is Antichristian, that our 
churches are no true churches, but synagogues of Satan, and 
that there is no communion to be held with us. This opinion 
we conceive to be not only false and uncharitable, but contra- 
dictory to Peace and Unity. (4). Such as say, that Episcopacy 
is an higher order of ministiy above Presbytery by divine right, 
that Christ hath given the sole power of ordination and jurisdic- 
tion unto Bishops ; and that ordination of ministers is so appro- 
priated to them by the Gospel, that all ordinations by single 
Presbyters are null and void, and that sacraments by them ad- 
ministered are no sacraments. These assertions we look upon 
not only as groundlesse and unscriptural, but as cruel, and ut- 
terly overthrowing all the Protestant Reformed Churches and 
ministers. Now, though we hope we can truly say, that we have 
with all meekness and Christian moderation managed the debate 
with these four sorts of Adversaries, and shall be ready to exer- 
cise all offices of Christian love and affection towards them, and 
by requiting good for evil, labour to heap coals of fire upon their 
heads ; yet notwithstanding such is the great distance between 
them and us in judgment and practice, and such is the bitternesse 
of their spirits in their opposition against us, that we have little 
hope for the present (till the Lord be pleased to work a happy 
change of judgment in them) of any real and hearty accord and 
agreement with them. (5). A fifth sort are our reverend brethren 
of New and Old England of the Congregational way, who hold 
our churches to be true churches, and our ministers true minis- 
ters, though they differ from us in some lesser things. We have 
been necessitated to fall upon some things, wherein they and we 
disagree, and have represented the reasons of our dissent. But 
yet we here profess, that this disagreement shall not hinder us 
from any Christian accord with them in affection. That we can 
willingly write upon our study doors that motto which Mr. Jer. 
Burroughes (who a little before his death did ambitiously en- 
deavour after Union amongst brethren, as some of us can testifie) 
persuades all scholars unto, opinio7iu7n varietas, et opiniantium 
tinitas non simt aavoraia. And that we shall be willing to enter- 
tain any sincere motion (as we have also formerly declared in our 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. ^^ 

printed vindication) that shall further a happy accommodation 
between us. (6). The last sort are the moderate, godly episcopal 
men, that hold ordination by Presbyters to be lawful and valid ; 
that a Bishop and a Presbyter are one and the same order of 
ministry, that are orthodox in doctrinal truths, and yet hold, that 
the government of the Church by a perpetual Moderatour is 
most agreeable to Scripture patern. Though herein we differ 
from them, yet we are farre from thinking that this difference 
should hinder a happy union between them and us. Nay, we 
crave leave to profess to the world, that it will never (as we hum- 
bly conceive) be well with England till there be an Union en- 
deavoured and effected between all those that are orthodox in 
doctrine though differing among themselves in some circum- 
stances about Church government." * 

In 1653 Richard Baxter was successful in the organi- 
zation of the Association of Worcestershire, combining 
moderate men of all parties. This was followed by sim- 



* Richard Baxter in his Chm'ch Concord^ London, 1691, in the Preface says : 
*• The ministers of the churches were then (as is usual) of divers opinions about 
Church Government ; (i) Some w^ere for our Diocesane Episcopacy as stated by 
the Reformation. (2) Some were for a more Reformed Episcopacy, described 
by Bucer, .... Usher, etc, (3) Some were for Diocesans in a higher strain, 
as subject to a foreign Jurisdiction .... the pope being prhtcipium Unitatis. 
(4) Some were for National and Classical Government by Presbyters only, with- 
out Bishops. (5) And some were for a parity of Ministers and Churches, with- 
out any superior Bishops, or Synods, or Governeurs ; but to have every Congre- 
gation to have all governing power in their proper pastors. (6) And some were 
for each Congregation to be governed by the major vote of the people ; the Pas- 
tor being but to gather and declare their vote ; Among all these the 3rd sort, the 
Foreigners, were utterly unreconcileable ; and of the 6th we had no great hopes. 
But with the other four we attempted such a measure of agreement as might 

be useful in a loose, unsettled time The most laborious ministers took 

the hint, and seconded us in many counties : first and chiefly in Westmoreland 
and Cumberland, and then in Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Essex. 
.... But when it came to closest practice. As the Foreigners (Prelatists) and 
Popular called Brownists, kept off, so but few of the rigid Presbyterians or Inde- 
pendents joyned with us ; (and indeed Worcestershire and the adjoining Coun- 
ties had but few of either sort). But the mam oody of our Association were men 
that thought the Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Independent, had each of them 
some good in which they excelled the other two parties, and each of them some 
mistakes ; and that to select out of all three the best part, and leave the worst, 
was the most desirable (and ancient) Form of Government." 



Y8 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAXISM. 

ilar associations in Devonshire, 1655, Westmoreland and 
Cumberland, 1656, Essex, 1658, and in Dublin and the 
province of Leinster, Ireland, Feb. 22, 1658(9), and soon 
after in Dorset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire, and they 
spread like a network over all England. 

Richard Baxter, in a private letter to Thomas Gata- 
ker, in 1653, expresses his view of the evils of disunion 
in one of the grandest sentences in the English lan- 
guage : 

" Alas, that not only godly Christians, but so eminent, able 
preachers of the gospel after such experience of the effects of 
division as the world scarce ever knew before, that have seen 
what it hath done in Scotland and felt what it hath done in Eng- 
land, and soe what it is threatening to the foreign Reformed 
churches, and have read what it hath done in all ages since 
Christ, should yet have so little mind of unity and no more 
deny themselves to attain it, nor bestir themselves more in- 
dustriously in following after it. Are such fit for the everlasting 
peace and unity ? Do they consider the sum of the 2nd table of 
God's commandments ? Do they understand and deeply con- 
sider the article of the creed, the Catholic church and the Com- 
munion of Saints ? Are they fit to say aright the first word of 
the Lord's prayer, which intimates that Christians should wor- 
ship God as members of the universal body, and not as divided 
into parties, and should come upon the common interests of 
Christians and not upon dividing interests." {Baxter's MSS. 
Letters, Vol. III., p. 39, in Dr. Williams' Library, London ; Pres- 
byterian Review, V., p. 687.) 

It has only gradually been learned that there are many 
consciences — equally sure that they are right — and that 
a conscience assured by God will be exacting for itself, 
but tolerant to others. It is nowhere said, in Scripture 
or reason, that the conscience of any individual or group 
of individuals shall be the conscience of a church, or of a 
nation, or of the world. The Puritan principle forbids 
the imposition upon any man's conscience of things 
which his own conscience cannot admit to be the will of 
God. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 79 

In the light of the better study of the Bible and of 
history we must admit that the contestants were alike 
in error. Richard Baxter and a few kindred spirits were 
the only consistent Puritans. None of the forms of 
Church government is of divine right. None of them 
represents the apostolic model as it is presented in the 
New Testament or the recently discovered '' Teaching of 
the Twelve Apostles^ Only the simple forms common 
to all the great religious bodies can claim Scripture au- 
thority. The government of the Church must adapt 
itself to the circumstances of the age, and the land and 
the people ; and so it must assume the form that will 
best express the religious life of the Christian people. 
Hence we see a gradual assimilation in all the Puritan 
churches. They have largely the same offices and insti- 
tutions, under different names. The Protestant churches 
of the Continent are drawing nearer to the Puritan 
churches of Great Britain and America. The Puritan 
element in the established Church of England is also 
under the influence of the same great movement which 
is directed by the principles of Puritanism toward that 
moderate Presbyterianism which alone is worthy to pre- 
vail over the world. 

VI. — PRESBYTERIANISM AND EPISCOPACY. 

Oliver Cromwell, the Protector, died on the 3d of 
September, 1658, and his son Richard took his place, 
and the reaction began. A new House of Commons 
met in January, 1658(9), which was so strongly reaction- 
ary that the council of officers of the army compelled 
Richard to dissolve it. In place of it, in May, the 
" Rump Parliament " reassembled, but even this quar- 
relled with the officers, and chaos was the result. Gen. 
Monk entered London with his army on the 3d of Feb- 
ruary, 1659(60). The Presbyterian members of the Long 



80 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Parliament, who had been expelled, returned, and at 
once resolv^ed on a dissolution, and the election of a new 
House of Commons. On the 25th of April the new 
House assembled and took the Solemn League and Cov- 
enant. 

Gen. Monk anticipated Parliament in making terms 
with Charles H., whose declaration from Breda of gen- 
eral pardon, religious toleration, etc., was received with 
such national enthusiasm that the king was at once in- 
vited to take possession of his kingdom. May 25th he 
landed at Dover, and entered London May 29th. 

It was soon understood that Presbyterian government 
could no longer exist in England, but that the most that 
could be attained would be a combination of moderate 
Presbyterians with moderate Episcopalians. 

The Provincial Assembly of Lancaster adjourned Au- 
gust 14th, until the second Tuesday of September. The 
Provincial Assembly of London adjourned August 15th, 
till the 3d of September. Neither of them met again. 

The Presbyterians at once divided into two parties — 
the one, under the leadership of Laz. Seaman and Will- 
iam Jenkyn, refused to compromise Presbyterian princi- 
ples ; the other, under the leadership of Calamy, Rey- 
nolds, Ashe, and Manton, with most of the London 
ministers, sought, with Baxter and others, to compro- 
mise. These latter met at Sion College, in an informal 
manner, in accordance with the direction of the king, 
and after some three weeks' discussion, adopted an ad- 
dress to the king and proposals as to Church govern- 
ment on the basis of Ussher's ^'Reduction of Episcopacy 
unto the form of Synodical Government, received in the 
ancient church^' - thus abandoning the Presbyterial organ- 
ization as represented in the Provincial Assembly. After 



* See Appendix, II., where it is given in full. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. g^ 

some time the bishops answered the proposals without 
compromise or yielding, and nothing was accomphshed. 
The extreme party had the upper hand and proposed to 
use their power to destroy Presbyterianism and re-estab- 
lish High Church Episcopacy. This was responded to 
by "A defence of our Proposals to his Majesty for agree- 
ment in Matters of Religion." Finally, on September 
4th, the Lord Chancellor sent them a copy of " a decla- 
ration of his Majesty to all his loving subjects .... 
concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs." They responded to 
this with a petition to the king for further concessions. 
A conference was also held with the episcopal party, but 
without success ; and a further paper was sent to the king 
with reference to alterations of the Declaration, and 
finally both parties appeared before the king. After a 
long discussion, a committee of conference was ap- 
pointed, composed of Bishops Morley and Hinchman on 
the one side, and Dr. Reynolds and Mr. Calamy on the 
other, with the Earl of Anglesey and Lord Hollis to 
decide in case of disagreement. An agreement was thus 
reached.* 

Dr. Reynolds was appointed bishop. Bishoprics were 
offered to Calamy and to Baxter, but were refused by both 
of them. On the 25th of March, 1661, the king called 
the Conference of Savoy to revise the Prayer-Book, com- 
posed of the Anglican bishops on the one side, with 
alternates, and on the other Dr. Reynolds (now bishop). 
Ant. Tuckney, John Conant, Wm. Spurstow, John 



* The Declaration was published as amended, and on November i6th the most 
of the London ministers signed an '■'■ humble and grateful acknowledgment of 
many ministers of the gospel in and about the city of London, to his royal 
Majesty for his gracious concessions in his Majesty s late declaration concern- 
ing Ecclesiastical Affair s.'^'' Among the signers we note Thos. Case, Sam. 
Clark, Jno. Rawlinson, Jo. Sheffield, Thos. Gouge, W. Whitaker, Tho. Ja- 
comb, Joh. Jackson, Wm. Bates, and Math. Poole. It was printed, with his 
Majesty's approbation, at the close of 1660. 

6 



82 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Wallis, Thos. Manton, Edm. Calamy, Arthur Jackson, 
Thos. Case, Sam. Clark, and Matth. Newcommen, with 
alternates. Of these eleven, eight had been members of 
the Westminster Assembly ; Wallis, one of its clerks ; 
and Manton and Clark were London ministers. 

The Conference at Savoy assembled April 13, 1661. 
The Presbyterians were required to bring in their excep- 
tions and complaints against the liturgy in writing, with 
their additional forms and amendments ; * which they 
did, after some time, together with a petition for peace. 
There was then a debate, with three on each side, which 
ended in the drawing up of a paper by Baxter, Bates, and 
Jacomb, making eight points against the Prayer-Book, 
with which it was sinful to comply. The debate ended 
July 25th, without having accomplished anything but 
to intensify the difference ; and each party appealed to 
the king. The Presbyterians presented their case by 
Bishop Reynolds, Dr. Bates, Dr. Manton, and Mr. Bax- 
ter, but received no answer.f 

Without waiting for the results of the Savoy Confer- 
ence, a convocation was called ; and the London minis- 
ters assembled on May 2d, at Christ's church, to choose 
clerks. Many of the Presbyterians had already been 
ejected from their charges, and many others would not 
attend. Nevertheless the Presbyterians prevailed by 
three votes, and chose Dr. Calamy and Mr. Baxter as 
their clerks, but this action was nullified by the Bishop 
of London. On the 7th of May the London ministers 
assembled at Sion College to choose a president and 
assistants for the year, but the Prelatists prevailed 



* See Baxter, II., p. 305, and Neal, III., p. 86. See also An account of all the 
proceedings of the Comtnissioneis of both Persuasions appointed by his sacred 
majesty^ according to Letters patent, for the Review of the Book of Common 
Prayer^ etc. London, 1661. 

t Neal, III., p. 91. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. §3 

and gained possession of Sion College, and kept it after- 
wards.* 

On the 22d of May, by order of the new Parliament, 
entirely in the interest of the bishops, the Solemn League 
and Covenant was burnt in the street by the hands of a 
common hangman.f 

The Presbyterians were depressed. The bishops grew 
more intolerant, and the Savoy Conference proved fruit- 
less. The convocation which had assembled by ordei 
of the king, November 20th, began to review the Book 
of Common Prayer, and continued at it until December 
20th, when sundry modifications were made, but not in 
the line to satisfy or remove Presbyterian objections. 
These were approved by the king and both houses, 
March 15th, 1661(2). May 19th, the Act of Uniformity 
was passed: "enacting that after August 24, 1662 (St. 
Bartholomew's day), no one should be a minister of the 
Church of England, or should administer the sacrament, 
who had not by that time, whatever his previous ordi- 
nation or calling, received due Episcopal ordination," 
also that " all clergymen of every rank, etc., should be- 
fore that time subscribe a formula embracing: (i) The 
non-resistance or passive obedience oath ; (2) An oath 
of conformity to the Liturgy ; and (3) An oath renounc- 
ing the Covenant." This could not be done by the Pres- 
byterians without a seeming sacrifice of principle. Ac- 
cordingly on Sunday, August 24, 1662, more than two 
thousand ministers were ejected from their charges, or 
one-fifth of the entire body of the Church of England ; 
and the nation was divided into two parties, which have 
continued ever since, the Conformists and Noncon- 
formists.J 



* Baxter, I., p. 334. t Baxter, L, p. 334- 

X Richard Baxter and his associates, with sad and weary hearts, submitted to 
this harsh law, many of them conforming to the established church by attendance 



34 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Of the four-fifths who conformed, were a large num- 
ber of moderate Presbyterians, like Bishop Reynolds, 
John Wallis, and Francis Roberts ; a still larger num- 
ber of weaker men, who were convinced of their errors 
by the force of circumstances ; the Latitudinarians gen- 
erally ; and the whole class of Cambridge men, or new 
Platonists, such as Benjamin Whichcote, Ralph Cud- 
worth, and Henry More, who were rapidly increasing 
among the more learned young men of Presbyterian 
families.* These carried on the Puritan conflict within 
the Church of England, and subsequently produced 
Methodism and the low church, or evangelical party, and 
the broad church, or comprehensive party, continuing the 
ancient struggle until the present day. King Charles sub- 
sequently endeavored to secure an Act of Toleration, to 
include the Roman Catholics. On December 26th he 
made a ^^Declaration of a Nezv Home Policy^' to this 
effect ; f but Parliament refused to sanction it, and in- 



upon its worship, and discouraging the organization of separating churches. 
Toward the close of his Ufe, in the preface to his Pettitent Cmfession, London, 
1691, he says : " O how Httle would it have cost your Church-men in 1660 and 
1661 to have prevented the calamitous and dangerous Divisions of this Land, 
and our common dangers thereby, and the hurt that many hundred thousands 
souls have received by it ? And how httle would it cost them yet to prevent the 
contmuance of it ? " 

* Baxter, L, pp. 390 seq. This is more fully explained by Baxter in the preface 
to his Church Concord^ thus : " The most of our ministers were young men bred 
at the Universities during the Wars, and engaged in no faction, nor studied much 
in such kind of controversies ; but of solid judgment and zealous preachers, and 
eminently prudent, pious and peaceable : And with them there joyned many that 
had conformed, and thought both the Common Prayer and the Directory, Epis- 
copacy and Presbytery tolerable : And these in 1660 did conform ; but most of 
the rest were rejected and silenced. Though of near ten thousand that the Par- 
liament left in possession, there were but two thousand cast out by the Prelates, 
we strongly conjectured beforehand who those would be." Again in his Peni- 
tent Confession, p. 64, he says that of the ten thousand that conformed, eight 
thousand had conformed to the Directory of the Presbyterian Parliament, and on 
p. 79 he intimates that this is a low estimate considering the number of chapels, 
curacies, and chaplains, in addition to the near ten thousand parish churches. 

fMasson, VL, p. 242. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. 85 

stead of it soon after issued the " Conventicles Act,'' May 
17, 1664, and " The Five Miles Act;' October 31, 1665. 
Thus Presbyterianism, as an organized ecclesiastical 
body, ceased in England at the Restoration. The Pres- 
byterian churches that remained among the Nonconform- 
ists were only such as local churches, or congregational 
elderships. 

The Parliament of Scotland vied with the English 
Parliament in its hostility to Presbyterianism. In 1661 
it repealed all the legislation of the past twenty years 
in favor of Presbytery, and re-established episcopacy. 
In 1662 it declared that all ministers ordained from 1649- 
1660 had no right to their livings, and that they must 
acquire their livings by recognizing the authority of their 
bishops. There were the same diversities among 
Presbyterians in Scotland as in England. Leighton ac- 
cepted a bishopic, and many good Presbyterians con- 
formed in hopes of a moderate episcopacy. But Sharp 
played the traitor to his brethren, and received the arch- 
bishopric of St. Andrews to enter upon a career of op- 
pression and infamy. Three hundred Scotch ministers 
followed the example of their English brethren, and 
abandoned their livings. 

A long and terrible struggle now arose between the 
prelatical authorities and the Presbyterian people. All 
Presbyterians were Covenanters. But the most radical 
section claimed to be the only faithful Covenanters in 
the midst of the general apostasy, and by their fanati- 
cism brought all Presbyterians under suspicion and into 
troubles. 

The great majority of the Scottish Presbyterians offered 
a passive resistance to prelatical authority, and were all 
the more difficult to conquer on that account. They 
adhered to the principle of a national Church, and looked 
forward to better times. They bowed their heads to 



36 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the oppressor as their fathers had done before them, 
and were faithful in suffering even unto death. 

The Irish Presbyterians suffered in the same way. 
" In Ulster sixty-one Presbyterian ministers, being almost 
the entire number who were then officiating in the 
province, were deposed from the ministry and ejected 
out of their benefices by the northern prelates." * 
These were embraced in five Presbyteries. Only seven 
of the entire number conformed to the new regime. f The 
Parliament of Ireland followed the Parliaments of Eng- 
land and Scotland in compliance with the plans of the 
prelates and in greed for revenge. 

During the reigns of Charles II. and James II. Presby- 
terianism was under the cross. It had been loyal to its 
own hurt, and it persisted in loyalty to a faithless house. 
But when James II. proposed to re-establish popery 
in his dominions, the Presbyterians of Great Britain 
arose as one man. They forgot all the injuries they had 
received from the prelates. They preferred prelacy to 
papacy. They were the active forces in the Revolution 
which compelled James II. to flee to the Continent, and 
which gave William and Mary the throne of Great 
Britain. With the accession of William and Mary in 
1688, Presbyterianism was granted toleration in England 
and Ireland, and it received permanent embodiment in 
the Church of Scotland. 



* Reid, II., p. 253. fReid, II., p. 255. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 

Puritanism first migrated to America among the ad- 
venturers of the Virginia Company. We do not know 
whether the first pastor of the colony of Jamestown, 
s Robert Hunt, was a Puritan or a Prelatist ; and we can- 
not be sure with reference to Mr. Glover. They were 
both graduates of Cambridge, where Puritanism was dom- 
inant, and their principles were not put to the test in 
Virginia. Alexander Whitaker, however, " the self-de- 
nying * apostle of Virginia,* " * was certainly a Puritan. 
He was a son of the famous Puritan Professor of Divin- 
ity, Dr. William Whitaker, of Cambridge, and cousin of 
Dr. William Gouge, a leading member of the Westmin- 
ster Assembly of divines, and the first moderator of the 
Provincial Assembly of London.f Whitaker organized 
an informal congregational Presbytery. He writes, June, 
1614: " Every Sabbath day we preach in the forenoon, 
and catechize in the afternoon. Every Saturday, at 
night, I exercise in Sir Thomas Dale's house. Our church 
affairs be consulted on by the minister and four of the 
most religious men. Once every month we have a com- 
munion, and once a year a solemn fast." And he sub- 
sequently wrote : " Here neither surplice nor subscrip- 
tion is spoken of." J 



* Geo. Bancroft, History of the United States of America^ Last Revision, 
N. Y,, 1883, I., p. 104. 

t See p. 71, E. D. Neill, History of the Virginia Company^ Albany, 1869, 
P- 77. 

JE. D. Neill, Notes on the Virginia Colonial Clergy^ Philadelphia, 1877, 
p. 4; Bancroft, I., p. 141. 

(87) 



88 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

I.— PRESBYTERIANISM IN THE BERMUDAS. 

Puritanism also established itself in the Bermudas, or 
Somers Islands. George Keith, a Scotchman, removed 
thither, in 1612, with the first governor of the island, 
Richard Moore, and was his chief counsellor. Soon after 
Lewes Hughes, minister of Great St. Helens, Bishops- 
gate, London, having been deposed for non-conformity 
by Archbishop Bancroft, was sent out by the Virginia 
Company."^ Keith and Hughes were associated in the 
Council of Captain Daniel Tucker, in 1616. Keith re- 
moved to Virginia in 1617, and settled at Elizabeth 
City.f In this same year Lewes Hughes organized a 
church in the Somers Isles with four elders, and com- 
posed a liturgy for its use, which was free from the ob- 
jectionable ceremonies of the Book of Common Prayer.;]: 
Strife arose on this account, and the Governor, Captain 
Nathaniel Butler, interposed, granting, as a compromise, 
permission to use the liturgy of the isles of Guernsey 
and Jersey. Accordingly, in 1619, the Governor and his 
council gave its use the countenance of their presence.§ 



* He writes a letter thence, dated December 21, 1614, which was printed under 
the title : A Letter sent mto England from tke Summer Islands^ written by 
Mr. Lewes Hughes^ preacher of God^s Word there^ London, 1615. 

+ E. D. Neill, Notes on the Virginia Colonial Clergy^ p. 7. 

X He writes to Lord Rich, May, 1617 : " The ceremonies are in no request, nor 
the Book of Common Prayer, I use it not at all. I have by the help of God 
begun a Church Government by ministers and elders. I made bold to choose 
four ciders from the town, publickly, by lifting up of hands, and calling upon God, 
when the Governor was out of the town. At his return, it pleased God to move 
his heart to like well, and to allow of that we had done, and doth g^ve to the 
elders all the grace and countenance that he can." This extract is given by 
Dr. E. D. NeiU in Virginia Vetusta, Albany, 1885, pp. 186-7. 

§ There is some difference of opinion with reference to this Liturgy : Whether 
it was the Liturgy used in these French isles in the time of Thomas Cartwright 
(see p. 42), or whether it was simply the French edition of the Book of Common 
Prayer, with certain omissions, such as were allowed" to these French churches, 
iu the time of King James. Captain John Smith, in his Generall Historie of 
Virginia, New Englaiid, and the Suinmer Isles, London, 1632, p. 192, says : 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 39 

In 162 1 Hughes returned to England and took an 
important part in the struggle for the overthrow of 
Prelacy.* 



* ' Now amongst all these trouj^les, it was not the least to bring the two ministers 
to subscribe the Booke of Common Praier, which all the Bishops in England 
could not doe. Finding it high time to attempt some conformitie, bethought 
himself of the Liturgie of Garnsey and Jarse wherein all those particulars they 
so much stumbled at, were omitted. No sooner was this propounded, but it was 
gladly embraced by them both, whereupon the Governor translated it verbatim 
out of French into English, and caused the eldest minister upon Easter day to 
begin the use thereof at St. Georges towne, where himself, most of the councell, 
officers and auditorie received the sacrament ; the which forme they continued 
during the time of his government," J. H. Lefroy {Memo7-ials of the Discovery 
afid Early Settlement of the Bermudas or Somers Islands^ London, 1S79, I., 
p. 684) argues that this Liturgy cannot be the Puritan Liturgy, on the ground 
that the ministers were ministers of the Church of England, that they were 
pledged to remain faithful to the Church, and that the Governor at this time 
would not have dared " to give open countenance to nonconformity." But all 
the Puritans at this time were members of the Church of England. They were 
endeavoring to reform the national Church and purge the Book of Common 
Prayer. The Archbishop of Canterbury at this time was the Puritan, George 
Abbot, who declined to enforce conformity to the objectionable ceremonies. 
The Virginia Company itself was Puritan in its sympathies. The Puritans in 
the Somers Isles and in Virginia were free from prelatical intrusion, and could 
carry out Puritan principles better than their brethren in England. Lewes 
Hughes and Governor Butler simply anticipated the reforms of the Long Par- 
liament and the Westminster Assembly, and had recourse to the Liturgy of the 
isle of Jersey as a Puritan Liturgy of recog^nized authority. The Governor per- 
mitted the Presbyterian organization of the church in accordance with that Lit- 
urg)\ The forms of worship of that Liturgy would be in better harmony with 
the ecclesiastical organization. This is confirmed by the instructions sent to the 
Somers Islands September 4, 1639: " The Archbishop of Canterbury has been 
informed that a great part of their Company in general, the Governor and 
Council and others in special, are non-conformists. They are therefore strictly 
required to carry out the directions received about two years ago, that the Books 
of Homilies and Common Prayer be read in all their churches ; that when the 
Holy Sacrament is received the reverent posture of kneeling be adopted, and 
that the ministers use the accustomed prayers and decent ceremony of signing 
with the cross in baptism" {Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Scries, 1574- 
1660 ; London, i860, p. 303). Archbishop Laud was determined to enforce con- 
formity in the Somers Isles, as well as in England, Scotland, and Ireland. But 
these islands were as far on as Scotland in nonconformity to Prelacy. 

* In 1640 he published : Certaine Greevances well worthy the serious consid- 
eration of the Right Honorable and High Court of Parliament, set forth by 
way of Dialogue or Coiiference betweene a counirey gentleman, and a minister 
of God's Word ; for the satisfying of ti:ose that doe clamour, and maliciously 



90 AMEEICAN PEESBYTERIANISM. 

In 1623 George Stirke,"^ a Scotch Puritan, removed to 
the Somers Islands, in place of Hughes, and continued 
as pastor until his death in 1636 or 1637. In 1626 Pat- 
rick Copeland, another Scotch Puritan minister, removed 
thither, and was followed by three English Puritans : 
John Oxenbridge in 1635, Nathaniel White in 1638, and 
William Golding soon afterwards. 

In the meanwhile a number of Puritan ministers and 
people settled in Virginia. Among these we may men- 
tion Robert Bolton, who preached at Elizabeth City and 
on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake ; Hawte Wyatt, 
who subsequently returned to England and was ar- 
raigned before the Court of High Commission by Arch- 
bishop Laud; William Bennet; and the famous Inde- 
pendent, Henry Jacob, who died soon after his arrival. f 

The Virginia Company was Puritan in its tendencies. 
On this account its charter was revoked by King James 
July 24, 1624. During its existence the Somers Islands 
and Virginia were under Puritan control ; not indeed 
that form of Puritanism which became dominant in New 
England, and ruled Great Britain under the Lord Pro- 
tector, but the Puritanism of Cartwright, Travers, Rey- 
nolds, and the English Presbyterians who desired to re- 
form the national Church, and disliked Brownism and 
Separation. 

The Puritans in Virginia and the Somers Isles divided 
into the same parties as in England. John Oxenbridge 
was the father of Independency in the Somers Isles. He 
was zealous for catechising, held love-feasts from house 



revile them that labour to have the errors of the Booke of Common Prayer 
reformed. 

* George Stirke, his son, and a son of Nathaniel White, graduated at Harvard 
College in 1646; J, L. Sibley, Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard 
University^ Cambridge, 1873, I., pp. 12,2 seq. 

t E. D. Neill, Virginia Colonial Clergy^ pp. 8 seq. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 9I 

to house, and gathered a body about him apart from the 
parish church."* 

After his departure Nathaniel White assumed the lead- 
ership, and gathered an Independent church. White 
was chosen pastor, William Golding and Patrick Cope- 
land elders, and Robert Castaven deacon. This congre- 
gation was organized as a congregational Presbytery with 
three ciders, all ministers. And yet there were marked 
differences between them and the Presbyterians of the 
islands.f 

White maintains " that a visible church is a particular 
congregation of saints by calling, having power of cen- 
sures within themselves and exercising all the ordi- 
nances of Christ of and in themselves " (in /. <:., p. 6). 
He renounced the ordination of "Anti-Christian prel- 
ates," and refused baptism to the children of those not 
in church covenant with himself, on the ground that he 
had no call to be their pastor. The strife is described 
by Richard Norwood : 

" The most part of those who do indeed fear God, do rather 
adhere to the Independent side than to the Presbyterian, being 
in some sort necessitated to make choice of one of them and the 
Independent having a more promising face than the Presby- 
terian though I doubt not on the reverse part of it more dan- 



* He returned to England in 1641, and became Fellow of Eton College. He 
was ejected in 1660, and retired to Berwick on the Tweed. He was ejected 
from thence in August, 1662, and went to New England and became pastor in 
Boston, where he died in 1674. {Morice MSS.^ G, p. 905, in Dr. Williams' 
Library, London ; C. Mather, Magnalia^ II., p. 597.) 

t These differences are fully discussed by William Prynne in his Fresh Dis- 
covery of some prodigious new wandring — blazing stars and Firebrands 
styling themselves New Lights^ London, 1645 (again 1646), especially the Let- 
ters of Richard Beake and Richard Norwood in the Appendix. Norwood was 
one of the earhest settlers. He went over as surveyor and schoolmaster in 1615, 
and had been in the islands forty years. Nathaniel White replies to Prynne in 
Truths gloriously appearing frotn under the sad and sable cloud 0/ oblique^ 
or a Vindication of the Practice of the Church of Christ in the Sutnmer Islands ^ 
%fc.^ London, sine anno, (1645-6). 



92 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

gerous. We have only two Independent ministers and two Pres- 
byterian and then the reins of government being very slack or 
negligently handled, I doubt much what the issue will be. For 
these ministers on either side do much instigate the people on 
either side one against another which is like to produce much 
bitterness in the end. It is come to that pass already this year 
that neither the Independents come to our church assemblies nor 
we to theirs. I was but twice at the Independent church this 
twelve month. Then the Gov. and council and country (chiefly 
I suppose by the instigation of our Presbyterian minister) were 
very much offended and instantly warning me against it with 
much importunity as if it tended to the subversion of power 
here, whereupon I have forborne. But yet if our two Presby- 
terian ministers prevail to set themselves in place of government 
in that way (which they earnestly desire and endeavour to do 
and the Gov. seems to be for them seeing he hath taken an oath 
or covenant to that purpose) I see not that we shall be in any 
better case."* 

In the narrow sphere of the Somers Islands, with 3,000 
inhabitants, the same struggle was going on which at 
that time unhappily divided the Puritans in all parts of 
the British empire. 

II. — PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 

Puritanism began to colonize New England in 1620. 
It first moved over in the congregation of John Robin- 
son, from Leyden, Holland, landing from the " May- 
flower," December 15, 1620, and settling the Plymouth 
colony under the godly elder Brewster. 

" Brewster and his company remained faithful to the extremely 
mild type of Barrowism in which Robinson had trained them, 
but the fact that, providentially, they had but one elder, and, for 
nearly or quite ten years, no pastor, thrust them upon the prac- 
tical development of a church government of the people, by the 



■5*- Letter of Richard Norwood to William Prynne from Summer Isles, May 15, 
1647, in the Colonial papers^ xi. 9, Rolls office, London, See, also, Robert 
Baylie, Dissuasive from the Eri-ours of the Time, London, 1646, p. 108. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 93 

people, and for the people, to a degree beyond their philosophy, 
and beyond their original intent ; and having so long the field 
entirely to themselves they were undisturbed from without in 
this their creed." (Henry M. Dexter, Congregationalism, N. Y., 
1880, pp. 413-14.) 

A Presbyterian colony was planned by John White, 
of Dorchester, who subsequently became one of the As- 
sessors of the Westminster Assembly. This enterprise 
was sustained by the Presbyterian leaders in the South 
of England and also in London. The colony was or- 
ganized and established on Massachusetts Bay. It was 
started under Roger Conant in 1625, but did not obtain 
an organization until August 6, 1629, when, a large com- 
pany having arrived, a church was constituted, with Sam- 
uel Skelton, pastor, Francis Higginson, teacher, and Mr. 
Houghton, elder.* 

Higginson, on leaving England, is said to have uttered 
these words : 

** We will not say, as the Separatists were wont to say at their 
leaving England, Farewell, Babylon ! Farewell, Rome I But we 
will say. Farewell, dear England ! Farewell, the church of God in 
England, and all the christian friends there ! We do not go to 
New England as Separatists from the Church of England ; though 
we cannot but separate from the corruptions in it ; But we go to 
practice the positive part of church reformation and propagate 
the gospel in America." (Cotton Mather, Magnalia, I., p. 362 ; 
H. M. Dexter, Congregationalism, p. 414.) 

This was the genuine Puritan spirit over against the 
spirit of Nathaniel White, who renounced the ordination 
of " the Antichristian prelates." 

The Presbyterian colony at Salem and the Congrega- 
tional colony at Plymouth associated in happy union. 
Daniel Neal gives the names of seventy-seven ministers 



* Skelton had been ejected from a charge in Lincolnshire for nonconformity, 
and Higginson from a charge in Leicestershire. See Daniel Neal, History 0/ 
New England^ London, 1720, I., pp. 122 seq. 



94. AMERICAN PEESBYTERIAXISM. 

of the Church of England, nonconformists, who removed 
to New England and carried on the work of the ministry 
there prior to 1641, besides twenty others who did not 
find charges." There were many others whose names 
escaped his notice. 

" For eight years and seven months the Leyden Plymouth 
church stood alone. Ten years after the Mayflower came to 
her moorings inside of Gurnet Point, there were but five congre- 
gational churches on the continent, and twenty years after there 
were but thirty-five." (H. M. Dexter, Co?igregaiionaHsm, p. 413.) 

There was an average of more than two ministers to a 
church. This was before the Puritans came into power 
in England and before the unhappy disputes among 
them arose. A considerable number of these ministers 
were inclined to Presbyterian views of church govern- 
ment. Among these we may mention Thomas Parker 
and James Xoyes, of Newbury^, Mass. ; John Eliot, the 
apostle to the Indians ; Peter Hobart, of Hingham : John 
Young, and Richard Denton, of Long Island. f 

The persecuted Scotch Presbyterians of the North of 
Ireland were invited by the Governor and Council of 
New England to settle on the Merrimac River, where 
they were promised lands. Accordingly, on the 9th of 
September, 1736, the " Eagle's Wing" started from Car- 
rickfergus wit^ 140 passengers, under the charge of the 
eminent pastors, Robert Blair and John Livingston.;}: 
But the vessel was compelled to return after many dis- 
asters. $ 



* Neal, History of Xev: England^ L, p. 197. 

t See Appendix III. % See p. 49, 

§ Patrick Adair, Trtie Narrative of the Rise and Progress of the Presbyterian 
Church in Ireland. Edited by W. D, KUlen, Belfast, 1866, pp. 42 seg. ; J. S. 
Reid, History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland^ I., pp. 192 seq. Samuel 
Rutherford vrrites to John Stxmrt in 1637 : " I would not have you to think it 
strange that journey to New England has gotten such a dash ; it indeed hath 
made my heart heavy ; yet I know it is no dumb providence, but a speaking one 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 95 

It was not time for Irish Presbyterianism to migrate 
to New England. It would have precipitated upon the 
colony the strifes which agitated Great Britain. 

The Presbyterian ministers of New England made a 
happy accommodation with the Congregational minis- 
ters, as their brethren in England subsequently did in 
county Associations, under the influence of Richard 
Baxter.* This combination produced an ecclesiastical 
organization which was firmly established in New Eng- 
land ere the parties came to an open rupture in Old 
England. 

" The early Congregationalism of this country was Barrowism, 
and not Brownism — a Congregationalized Presbyterianism or a 
Presbyterianized Congregationalism— which had its roots in the 
one system, and its branches in another ; which was essentially 
Genevan within the local congregation, and essentially other 
outside of it. The forty or fifty churches which ' for the sub- 
stance of it' adopted the Cambridge platform, held this general 
system indeed with varying degrees of strictness — from the al- 
most Presbyterianism of Hingham and Newbury, to the large 
minded and large hearted Robinsonianism of the mother, May- 
flower church." (Henry M. Dexter, Congregatzonalism, p. 463.) 

According to the Cambridge platform as well as the 
Westminster Directory, the congregational Presbytery 
should exist in every local church ; but it was subse- 
quently found impracticable to realize the ideal of the 
three kinds of elders without lowering the standard for 



whereby our Lord speaketh his mind to you, though for the present ye do not 
well understand what he saith. However it be, He that sitteth upon the floods 

hath shown you his marvellous kindness in the great depthes If I saw a 

call for New England I would follow it." (Rutherford, Letters. Letter 51.) 

* See p. 77. Dr. Charles Hodge well says : *' The Puritan Presbyterians were 
willing, for the sake of the great ends of peace and union, to unite with the Epis- 
copaUans in a modified form of Episcopacy ; so for the same important objects, 
they were willing to unite with the Independents in New England, in a modified 
form of Congregationalism." {Constitutional History of the Presbyterian 
Church in the U. S. A., Philadelphia, 1851, I., p. 28.) 



96 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

such elders, and so destroying it in its most essential 
features. It was deemed best not to preserve the mere 
form or skeleton of the office when the essential qualifi- 
cations could not be found. It was easier to organize 
the churches in accordance with the ideal in the first 
thirty years of the colony, on account of the very large 
proportion of well-trained and efficient ministers and 
elders who were forced to leave England for noncon- 
formity ; but it subsequently became more difficult. 
Hence some of the churches had the three elders, some 
the two, and some but the one, who was obliged to as- 
sume the functions of the three.* Gradually the con- 
gregational Presbytery passed out of use in the churches 
of New England, and the congregations became " un- 
presbyterated." 



* Thomas Weld gives an account of the churches of New England in 1645 : 

, rj. , . j Pastors 

" The ordinar)' officers we use to call are ^^^^^^ | ^^^^^^ { Teachers. 

Deacons 
The Pastors office properly, is to bend himself to exhortation, the Teachers 
office to give himself to instruction in points of doctrine, explication of Scripture, 
computation of error &c. The ruUng elder to order the assemblies, to look to 
the life and conversation of the whole church, and to visit from house to house, 
to see how all things thrive in godUnesse, while the other give themselves to the 
Word and Doctrine, and all of them together to govern the house of God, and 
also to prepare in private all matters for church, and to survey the estates, and 
ripen all such as are to be admitted in the church, before they produce them in 
publike &c." [Brief Nar7-ation of the Churches in New England^ p. 3, London, 

1645-) 

The Westminster divines, in their Humble Advice concerning Church Govern- 
ment, represent : ' ' The Scripture doth hold out the name and title of a teacher, 
as well as the pastor .... who is also a minister of the Word as well as the 

pastor and hath power of administration of the sacraments Yet where be 

several ministers in the same congregation, they may be designed to several im- 
ployments, according to the different gifts, in which each of them do most excel. 
.... And he that doth most excel in exposition of Scripture, in teaching sound 
doctrine, and in convincing gain-sayers, then he doth in appHcation, and is ac- 
cordingly imployed therein, may be called a teacher or doctor Neverthe- 
less, where is but one minister in a particular congregation, he is to perform so 
far as he is able, the whole work of the ministr}-." From this it \vill appear how 
greatly the modern Presbyterian churches as well as Congregational churches 
have departed from the Westminster model. 



THE RISE OF PEESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 97 

John Eliot, in a private letter to a friend in England 
in May, 1650, gives a survey of the churches of New Eng- 
land. He mentions sixty in all, of which thirteen have 
pastors and teachers."^ Ten of these are in the Massa- 
chusetts Bay colony, and the other three in the colony 
of Connecticut. The churches of the Plymouth colony 
have only pastors. John Eliot also introduced the 
congregational Presbytery among his Indian converts. 
He was indeed the chief apostle in the work among the 
Indians. He was minister at Roxbury when he decided 
to devote himself to this work. He labored for some 
years in acquiring the Indian language. He began his 
ministry among the Indians Oct. 28, 1646, at Watertown 
Mill, a few miles from Cambridge. Mr. Leverich under- 
took the same good work in Plymouth colony, and Mr. 
Thomas Mayhew in Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and 
the Elizabeth Isles. They were encouraged by the great 
interest taken in their work both in Old England and 
Scotland as well as in New England. 

The charter granted to the Presbyterian colony of 
Massachusetts Bay in 1628 declared that to " wynn and 
incite the natives of the country to the knowledge and 
obedience of the onlie true God and Saviour of mankind 
and the Christian faythe," was in the " royall intention 
and the adventurers free profession, the principall ende 
of this plantation." This spirit of missions burst forth 
in a petition to Parliament, supported by a large number 
of the Puritan ministers of England and Scotland.f 

The movement took practical shape in the organiza- 



* See Appendix IV., where this letter is printed for the first time. 

+ Petition 0/ W. C {asiel) exhibited to the High Court of Parliament nozv 
assembled, for the propagating of the Gospel in America and the West Indies, 
and for the setting of our plantations there, which petition is approved by 70 
able English divines. Also by Master Alex. Henderson and some other worthy 
ministers of Scotland. London, 1641. 

7 



98 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

tion of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
New England, by ordinance of Parliament in 1649. It 
was authorized '' to receive and dispose of monies in such 
manner as shall best and principally conduce to the 
preaching and propagating the gospel amongst the na- 
tives, and for the maintenance of schools and nurseries 
of learning for the education of the children of the na- 
tives." A general collection was appointed to be made 
'' in and through all the countries, cities, towns, and 
parishes of England and Wales, for a charitable contribu- 
tion to be as the foundation of so pious and great an un- 
dertaking." Nearly ;^ 12,000 were collected at this time, 
and the corporation was organized with Judge Steele 
president ; and commissioners, and a treasurer were ap- 
pointed in New England to superintend the work. This 
society directed its attention to the support of Eliot, 
Mayhew, and others, who engaged in the missions. Its 
charter was taken away at the Restoration and its funds 
were imperilled, but through the influence of Ashurst, 
its first treasurer, and Richard Baxter, a new charter was 
granted by Lord Chancellor Hyde, and it was recon- 
stituted,* and the Hon. Robert Boyle was made governor 
of the company.f 



**'A Society for propagation of the Gospel in New England and the parts 
adjacent in America ; .... to be one body corporate and politique to have 
continuance forever to them and their successors, .... with power to employ 
goods, chattels, money, and stock of said company for the promoting and propa- 
gating of the gospel of Christ unto & amongst the heathen natives, in or near 
New England, and parts adjacent in America ; and also for nourishing, teach- 
ing, and instructing the said heathen natives and their children, not only in the 
true religion and in morality, and the knowledge of the English tongue, and in 
other liberal arts and sciences, but for the educating and placing of them or their 
children in some trade, ministry or lawful calling." 

t He soon after gave them ;^300. He also left them ;^ioo more in nis will, 
dated July i8, 1691, and recommended his executors that after all debts and lega- 
cies were paid, in the use of the balance : " The laying out of the greatest part 
of the same for the advance or propagation of the Christian Religion among In- 
fidels. " (See Account of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts^ 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 99 

This missionary society was sustained by the entire 
Presbyterian strength of Great Britain.* The work 
among the Indians was so successful that in 1689 there 
were six churches of baptized Indians in New England, 
eighteen assemblies of catechumens, and twenty-four 
preachers. In these churches ruling elders of the In- 
dians were associated with the Indian ministers. The 
ministers were ordained by Eliot and Cotton by the lay- 
ing on of hands after fasting and prayer.f 

The churches of New England, Indian as well as Eng- 
lish, were organized in congregational Presbyteries ; but 
the classical Presbyteries could not be organized on ac- 
count of the differences between the Presbyterians and 
the Congregationalists. They were obliged to compro- 
mise, in the constituting of synods. The members as- 
sembled in synods for consultation and advice and for 
the determination of controversies. But their authority 
was spiritual and moral. They had no external power 
of discipline or ecclesiastical coercion. This was the 
best the Presbyterians of New England could do under 
the circumstances. It was the only feasible mode of 
union. It was far better than the strife which under- 
mined the Puritan interest in Great Britain, and which 
brought about the restoration of prelacy. It was bet- 
ter far than the evil spirit of contention in the narrow 
theatre of the Somers Isles. 

III.— PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW YORK. 

The Puritan type of Presbyterianism colonized New 
York chiefly by way of New England. The earliest 



London, 1706, and especially Sketch of the origin and the recent History 0/ the 
New England Company, London, 1884.) 
* See Appendix V. for a further account of the New England Company. 

t A brief Relation of the State of New England from the beginning of that 
plantation to the present year. In a letter to a person of quality. London, 
1689, p. 18. See also Cotton Mather, Magnalia, Hartford, 1853, I., p. 569, 



100 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Puritan minister in the State of New York seems to 
have been John Young. He settled at Southold, L. I., 
and organized a township church, October 21, 1640.'^^ 

The second Puritan minister was Abraham Pierson, a 
graduate of Cambridge in 1632, and a Yorkshire clergy- 
man, who went to New England in 1639 and settled at 
Lynn, Mass., and from thence removed to Southampton, 
L. I., with his flock in 1641. In 1644 he removed with 
a portion of them to Branford, Conn., and again, in 1667, 
to Newark, N. J., where the first Puritan church in New 
Jersey was established. f 

The third Puritan minister was Francis Doughty. 
He had probably been vicar of Sodbury, Gloucester, 
England, where he was silenced for nonconformity. if 
He emigrated to Taunton, Mass., in 1637. When the 
church was gathered in that place, Doughty maintained 
the Presbyterian doctrine of infant baptism, over against 
the Congregational, and '' opposed the gathering of the 
church there, alleging that according to the covenant of 
Abraham all men's children that were of baptized parents, 
and so Abraham's children, ought to be baptized, and 
spoke so in public, or to that effect, which was held a 
disturbance, and the minister spoke to the magistrate to 
order him. The magistrate commanded the constable, 
who dragged Master Doughty out of the assembly. He 
was forced to go away from thence with his wife and 
children." § He and Richard Smith, a ruling elder, and 
their adherents, were forced to exile by the Independ- 
ents. They found refuge among the Dutch. Doughty 



* He had been ordained in the Church of England. He remained at Southold 
until his death, February 24, 1672. (E. Whitaker, History 0/ Southold^ 1881, 
P- "3.) 

t J. F. Stearns, Historical Discourses Relating to the First Presbyterian 
Church in Newark. Newark, 1853, PP- 26 seq. 

X E, D. Neill, Founders of Maryland. Albany, 1876, p. 118. 

§ Thomas Lechford, Plain Dealings 1642, p. 40. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. IQl 

secured the conveyance of Mespat (near Newtown), L. I., 
with the view of establishing a Presbyterian colony 
there.* The settlement was begun in 1642, but the In- 
dian war broke up the colony in 1643, and the min- 
ister and his flock went to Manhattan Island for shel- 
ter during the war. He became the first Presbyte- 
rian minister in the city of New York. He ministered 
there from 1643-48, and was supported by volun- 
tary contributions from the Puritans and the Dutch of 
the city.f He preached also for a while, at Flushing, 
on Long Island. The Dutch ministers, Megapolensis 
and Drisius, report August 6, 1657, to the Classis of 
Amsterdam : "At Flushing they heretofore had a Pres- 
byterian preacher who conformed to our church, but 
many of them became endowed with divers opinions, 
and it was with them qiiot homines tot sententia. They ab- 
sented themselves from preaching, nor would they pay 
the preacher his promised stipend. The said preacher 
was obliged to leave the place and to repair to the Eng- 
lish Virginias." :j: His daughter married Adrien Van der 
Donck, a prominent lawyer of the city. Owing to the 
failure of the colony, Govs. Kieft and Stuyvesant sought 
to recover the claim upon Mespat, but Doughty declined 
to restore it. He was at last glad to escape from the 
wrath of Stuyvesant, and fled to Maryland, where he 
preached to the Puritans for many years. § 



* James Riker, Annals 0/ Newtown. New York, 1852, pp. 17 seq. 

iBoc. Hist. N. K, I., pp. 305-6, 311, 331, 334-5, 341, 426, 553 ; H., 93. 

\Doc. Hist. N. v., III., p. 106. 

§ This case was the subject of a complaint in a Representation from New Neth- 
erlands Hague, 1650, subscribed by Van der Donck and others, which Stuyves- 
ant was obliged to answer to the authorities in Holland. This was reprinted by 
Henry C. Murphy, N. Y., 1854. (See p. 159.) " His injustice and illegal admin- 
istration of justice were also apparent in a certain suit against Francis Douthey, 
an English minister, to whom he had given permission to form a colony, before 
the war, and who had made such a beginning therein, that more than eighty per- 



102 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

The fourth Puritan minister was Joseph Fordham. 
He seems to have been at Hempstead as early as April, 
1644.'^ He removed to Southampton in 1645 or '6, 
where he remained until his death in 1674. 

The fifth Puritan minister was Richard Denton, grad- 
uate of Cambridge in 1623, once minister at Cooly 
chapel, Halifax, England. He settled at Wethersfield, 
Conn., in 1630, removed to Stamford, Conn., in 164.1, 
and in 1644, with a portion of his flock, to Hempstead, 
L. I., where he remained till 1658, when he returned to 
England. Denton was a Presbyterian. He is so recog- 
nized by the Dutch pastors of New Amsterdam, who wrote 
to the Classis of Amsterdam in 1657: ''At Heemstede, 
about seven Dutch miles from here, there are some In- 
dependents ; also many of our persuasion and Presbyte- 
rians. They have also a Presbyterian preacher named 
Richard Denton, an honest, pious, and learned man. He 
hath in all things conformed to our church. The Inde- 
pendents of the place listen attentively to his preaching, 
but when he began to baptize the children of such par- 
ents as are not members of the church, they sometimes 
broke out of the church." f He also ministered to the 
Puritans in the metropolis in an English Puritan church. 
This was not a separate church building, but the band 
of Puritans to whom Doughty ministered. They wor- 
shipped together with the Dutch and the French, in the 
same church building within the fort,:}: and at different 



sons had proceeded there. The war coming on, everything' ran down and came 
to a stand." {.Broad Advice to the United Netherland P7-ovinces. Antwerp, 
1649. Reprinted by Henry C. Murphy, N. Y., 1854, p. 159.) 

^ Broad Advice to the United Netherlatid Provinces, Antwerp, 1649; Re- 
printed by Henry C. Murphy, N. Y., 1854, p. 151. 

"^Doc. Hist. N. K, HI., p. 107. 

X The evidence for this service of Denton in our city is derived from an ancient 
book of records, handed dovni in the author's family: " Sarah Woolsey was 
bom in New York, August ye 3d, in ye year 1650. Aug 7, she was baptized in 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 103 

hours of service. Denton was therefore the second 
Presbyterian minister in New York City."^ 

From this time forward Puritan ministers settled in 
New York with greater rapidity and in greater numbers. 
Thomas James became pastor at Easthampton, L. I.,t in 
1648, and John Moore, at Middleburgh, L. I., in 1650. J 

Brian Newton and others report to Governor Stuy- 
vesant an interesting description of a Puritan service at 
Westchester, conducted by two laymen, Robert Bassett 
and a Mr Bayley, probably ruling elders, in i656,§the one 
reading a sermon, the other leading in prayer. 

ye English church by Mr. Denton, Capt. Newtown godfather. George Woolsey 
was born in New York, October 10. 1652 ; October 12 he was baptized in ye 
Dutch church, Mrs. Newtown godmother. Thomas Woolsey was born at Hem- 
sted, April loth 1655, and there baptized by Mr Denton. Rebecka Woolsey was 
born at New York Feb 13. 1659. Feb 16 she was baptized in ye Dutch church, 
Mr, Bridges, godfather, and her grandmother, godmother." The distinction is 
clearly drawn between English church and Dutch church. The connection be- 
tween New York and Hempstead is manifest. The minister, Mr. Denton, bap- 
tized one child at Hempstead, another in the English church in New York, Mr. 
Denton did not baptize Rebecka in 1659, because he had just left Hempstead for 
England in 1658. 

* In Denton's time there was a change of Dutch pastors in the city. John 
Bacherus left for Holland in 1649, John Megapolensis was on his way from 
Renselaerwyck to Holland, when he was stopped at New Amsterdam with a 
call to the vacant church. He accepted, and became intolerant to the Lutherans 
and the Puritans, and was rebuked for it by the West India Company. (E. T. 
Corwin, Manual of the Reformed Church in America^ third edition, N. Y., 1879, 
P- 379') The English Puritans desired services of their own, and they held to- 
gether during the times of Doughty and Denton. The Dutch saw that it was 
good policy to satisfy them. Accordingly Samuel Drisius, pastor of the Dutch 
church, Austin Friars, London, who could preach in French, English, and 
Dutch, was called to assist Megapolensis. He began his work in 1652, and 
labored until his death in 1673. His presence rendered English Puritan ministers 
no longer necessary. 

t See p. 109 

\ Riker, History of Newtown, pp. 40-46, represents that the first colony of 
Puritans from New England settled at Middleburgh, with John Moore as pastor, 
in 1652 ; but the letter of Eliot, in 1650, represents that Moore was at Hemp- 
stede at that date. It is possible that he served the Independents at Hempstede 
during the time of Denton, and afterwards settled at Middleburgh, where he 
died, September, 1657. See Appendix IV. 

%Doc. Hist. N. K, HL, p, 557. 



XOi AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANTSM. 

William Leverich - settled at Huntington, L. I., in 
1658 ; Jonah Fordham f at Hempstead in 1660 ; Zecha- 
riah Walker:}: at Jamaica in 1662. We do not know 
whether. Fordham and Walker ministered to the Puri- 
tans in New York City. It is possible, in view of the 
previous connection through Doughty and Denton, and 
the subsequent connection through Vesey, McNish, 
and Makemie. Thus when the colony of New Amster- 
dam was surrendered to the Duke of York, September, 
1664, there were within the present bounds of New York 
six Puritan ministers settled with their flocks. There 
were Puritan bands in New York City and at Rye and 
Westchester without pastors. 

The colony was recaptured by Holland, July, 1673, 
and finally surrendered to the English, October^ ^^74- 
Edmund Andros became governor under James H., and 
at once entered upon a struggle with the Dutch and Pu- 
ritan population in civil affairs, but, so far as New York 
is concerned, seems not to have troubled the Puritan 
churches. John Bishop, Puritan pastor at Stamford, 
writes to Increase Mather, July 10, 1677, that there had 
been " two churches lately gathered in the island, viz., at 
Jamaica and Huntington, with the governors good and 
free allowance, as soon as asked, and that in the way of 
New England Congregational churches, which Hberty I 
doubt not but he will readily grant to any people, and 
able ministers if desired." § Gov. Andros reports in 



* He had been ordained in the Chiu-ch of England. He labored for the Soci- 
ety for the Propag:ation of the Gospel in New England in a mission to the Indi- 
ans at Sandwich, Mass. He removed to Oyster Bay, L. I., in 1653, and from 
thence to Huntington, where he remained till 1662, when he removed to Middle- 
burgh, where he died in 1692. 

t He graduated at Harvard in 1658. He was son of Rev, Joseph Fordham, of 
Southampton, L. I, (Sibley, I., p, 538.) 

X He studied at Harvard, but left in 1655 ^vlthout a degree. He removed in 
1668 to Woodbury, Connecticut, where he died in 1700. (Sibley, I., p. 567.) 

§ Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., VIII., 4th Senes, p. 302. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 105 

1678, ''There are religions of all sorts, one Church of 
England, several Presbyterians and Independents, Qua- 
kers and Anabaptists of several sects, some Jews, but 
Presbyterians and Independents most numerous and 
substantial."* During these times, the Puritan churches 
lost many of their veteran pastors, but continued to in- 
crease in numbers. 

Nathaniel Brewster f setted at Brookhaven and sup- 
plied Eastchester in 1665 ; John Prudden :j: supplied 
Jamaica, 1670 ; Eliphalet Jones,§ Rye, Ezekiel Fogg, 
Eastchester, and Joshua Hobart,|| Southhold, in 1674; 
John Harriman,Tr Southampton, and William Wood- 
ruff,** Jamaica, and Peter Prudden, Rye, in 1675; Thomas 
Denham settled at Rye, 1677, and Morgan Jones ff at 
Jamaica in 1678. Thus, at the time when Gov. Andros 
made this report eight Puritan ministers were at work in 
the province of New York. DuVing the reign of James 
II. Puritans flourished in the Province. The only dififi- 



* G. H. Moore, Hist. Mag., 1867, p. 325. 

t He graduated at Harvard in the first class in 1642. He was the first gradu- 
ate born in America. He settled at. first in Norfolk, England, but was ejected in 
1662, and returned to America in September, 1663. 

X He graduated at Harvard in 1668. 

% He was son of Rev. John Jones, of Fairfield, Conn. 

\ He was son of Peter Hobart, the Presbyterian pastor at Hingham, Mass. 
He graduated at Harvard in 1650 ; he spent some time in the Barbadoes and in 
England, and returned to America in 1669. (Sibley, I., p. 212.) 

TI He graduated at Harvard in 1667. He settled at New Haven, Conn., from 
1677-82. He removed to Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1687. 

** He was ordained in England ; was ejected for nonconformity in 1662. 
(Mather, Magnalia, I., p. 237). He removed from Jamaica to Lancaster, Mass. 

tt Morgan Jones was the son of John Jones, of Monmouthshire, England, a 
graduate of Jesus College, Oxford, He settled at Llanmadock, Wales, but in 
1662 was removed for nonconformity. He became chaplain of Major-General 
Bennet in Virginia in 1669. (Riker, in /. c, p. ico.) Eastchester agreed to 
pay him £i\Q a year, provided he would come and live there December 17, 1678. 
(R. Bolton, History of the County 0/ Westchester, N. Y., 1881, I., p. 220.) He 
was at Westchester, February 11, t68o, and on Staten Island in 1684, and at 
Eastchester in 1685. 



106 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

culty was to secure a sufficient number of ministers. 
The great charter of 1683-4 granted liberty of conscience 
and protected the religious rights of the Puritans as well 
as the Dutch. Joseph Taylor* settled at Southampton 
in 1680; Jeremiah Hobart,f at Hempstead, 1683 ; War- 
ham Mather,:!: at Westchester, John Woodbridge, at 
Rye, 1684 ; Dugald Simson, a Scotch Presbyterian,§ at 
Brookhaven, 1685 ; Joseph Whiting, || at Southampton, 
1687. 

The Revolution of 1688 brought toleration to the 
Puritans of Great Britain, but it brought the Puritan — 
ism of America into graver perils. After the disorders 
of the Revolution, Gov. Sloughter, " a profligate, needy, 
and narrow-minded adventurer," took charge of the 
Province, and the troubles of the Puritans began. In 
1691 there were nine Puritan ministers at work in the 
Province. In 1691 the Puritans of the metropolis de- 
sired to have Edward Slade as their minister, but it is 
probable that Gov. Sloughter would not consent. T[ Gov. 
Fletcher, a " covetous and passionate man," ** took 
charge August, 1692, and exerted himself to overthrow 
the Puritanism of the Province and establish the Church 
of England. 



* He graduated at Harvard in 1669, and preached at New Haven, Conn, , for 
a while. 

t He was son of Peter Hobart, and brother of Joshua Hobart, of Southold. 
He graduated from Harvard in 1650. He was pastor at Top>sfield, Mass., until 
1680. 

X He graduated at Harvard in 1685, was the son of Rev. Eleazer Mather, of 
Northampton. 

§ He was a student at the University of Glasgow, March 6, 1682, in the fourth 
class. He remained pastor at Brookhaven until 1691, when he returned to Scot- 
land and was admitted to the parish of Applegarth, in Lochmaber Presbytery, 
September, 1694. He died in 1704. (Hugh Scott, Fasti. Eccl. Scot.^ I., p. 643.) 

\ He graduated at Harvard in 1661, and assisted his father, Samuel Whiting, 
pastor of Lynn, Mass., for many years. 

Tl G. H. Moore, Hist. Mag., 1867, p. 326. 

** Bancroft, Hist. U. S., H., p. 38. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. J[07 

In 1693 an Act of Assembly was passed to settle 
ministers and provide for their support : 

"In the City of New York, one; in the County of Richmond, 
One ; in the County of Westchester, Two ; one to have the care 
of Westchester, Eastchester, Yonkers, and the manor of Pelham ; 
the other to have the care of Rye, Mainarenock, and Bedford ; 
in Queens County, Two ; One to have the care of Jamaica, and 
the adjacent Towns and Farms ; the other to have the care of 
Hainpstead^ and the next adjacent Towns and Farms." 

The Act only applied to four of the counties of the 
Province, but it provided, " That all the former agree- 
ments, made with ministers throughout this Province, 
shall continue and remain in their full Force and Virtue." 

The Puritan towns availed themselves of the Act and 
chose vestrymen and church-wardens to carry it into 
effect. February 12, 1694, the vestrymen of New York 
City assembled, all members being present. 

" Upon reading an Act of Gen'. Assembly entituled an Act for 
settling a ministry and raising a maintenance for them in the 
city of New York, & itt was proposed to this Board what Persua- 
sion the person should be of by them to be called to have the 
Care of Souls and officiate in the office of minister of this Citty, 
by Majority of Votes itt is the opinion of y^ board that a Dis- 
senting Minister be called to officiate and have the care of souls 
for this Citty as aforesaid." (G. H. Moore, Hist. Mag., 1867, p. 
330.) 

But the Governor would not give his consent to a 
Dissenting minister. He desired to secure the place for 
John Miller, chaplain of the British forces, but in vain. 

Westchester tried to settle Warham Mather; Rye, 
John Woodbridge ; and Jamaica, George Phillips, under 
the Act ; but they were opposed by the Governor and 
his agents. Several towns desired ministers of their own 
apart from the parishes fixed in the Act. Newtown had 
settled John Morse* in 1692, and in 1695 petitioned the 



* John Morse graduated from Harvard in 1692. He remained at Newtown 
until his death, Oct., 1700. (Riker, in /. ^r., p, 131.) 



108 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 



Assembly for exemption from the Act. John Miller re- 
turned to England, and in 1695 gave the following repre- 
sentation of the religious condition of the colony of 
New York : * 



Counties. 


Churches. 


Ministers. 


Families. 


New York, 


Chapel in the fort, 
Dutch Calvinists, 
Dutch Lutherans, 
French, 

Jews' Synagogue, 
Haarlem, 


Dr. SeHnus, 

Dr. Perot, 
Saul Brown, 
Dr. SeUnus, 


90. 
450. 

30- 
200. 

20. 

25- 
English 40, Dis- 
senters. 


Richmond, 


A Meeting House, 


Dr. Bonrepos, 


English 40 
Dutch 44 
French 36 


King:s, 


Flatbush, 

Utrecht, 

Brookland, 


Dr. Varick died August, 
1694, and another sent 
for May 27, 1695. 


300 or 400, chiefly 
Dutch. 


Queens, 


ilTmt^ed [Meeting 
Newtmvn [Houses, 


Mr. Phillips, Without 
Mr. Vesey, > any 
Mr. Mot, orders. 


300 or 400 English, 
most Dissenters, 
and some Dutch. 


Suffolk, 


Eight or nine Meet- 
ing Houses ; almost 
one at every town. 


Seven ministers, Dissent- 
ers, Presbyterian, or In- 
dependent. One lately 
gone to Scotland. 


500 or 600 English, 
and Dissenters 
for the most 
part. 


Westchester 


A Meeting House at 
West Chester. 


A young man coming to 
settle there without any 
orders. 


200 or 300 English 
and Dissenters; 
few Dutch. 


Orange, 






20 English and 
Dutch. 


Dutchess, 






30 English and 
Dutch. 


Ulster. 


Dutch Calvinist at 

Kingstone, for five 

or six towns. 


A minister to come, his 
books brought ; but he 
missed his passage. 


300, Dutch mostly; 
some English 
and French. 


Albany, 


Dutch Calvinist, 
Dutch Lutheran, 
Scanecthade, 
Kinderhoeck, 


Dr. Dellius. 

A Dutch minister sent 
for. 


400 or 500 Dutch, 
all Calvinists, 
except 12 or 14 
Lutherans. 



* A Description of the Province and City of New York, 1695. A new edition, 
with notes, by J. G. Shea, N. Y., 1862, p. 37. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 109 



IV.— PRESBYTERIANISM IN MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA. 

The Puritans of Virginia were favored by the govern- 
ment of the Virginia Company ; but after the governors 
of Virginia were appointed by the crown, the eyes of 
Archbishop Laud were directed upon the ecclesiastical 
affairs of the colony. There was no religious persecu- 
tion, however, until Sir William Berkeley assumed the 
government in 1642. The minister of Upper Norfolk, 
or Nansemond county, retired from the parish in 1641, 
and the people through Richard Bennett, Daniel Gookin, 
John Hill, and others, applied by letter to the New Eng- 
land ministers for pastors for the three parishes into 
which the county had been divided. Philip Bennett 
carried the petition to New England in 1642.* The let- 
ters were presented and openly read at Boston on Lec- 
ture-day. A day of fasting and prayer was appointed, 
and it was determined to send John Knowles, of Water- 
town, and William Thompson, of Braintree, to Virginia. 
They began their voyage October 7, 1642, armed with 
letters of recommendation from Governor Winthrop to 
Governor Berkeley. They were joined at New Haven 
by Thomas James.f But the Governor was not friendly 
to Puritanism, least of all to New England Puritanism. 
He had been instructed to enforce the ceremonies of the 
Church of England ; and now on the eve of their aban- 
donment in Great Britain, he required conformity to 
them in Virginia. Accordingly the New England min- 
isters were compelled to return after a brief ministry.:]: 
Berkeley was instigated by his chaplain, Thomas Harri- 



* E. D. Neill, Virginia Colonial Clergy^ p. 13. 

t He subsequently settled at Easthampton, Long Island, N. Y. (See p. 103.) 

X History of New England from the English Plajtting in 1628 untill the 

yeare 1652, London, 1654, p. 227 ; Daniel Neal, History of New England^ I., p. 

200 ; Cotton Mather, Magnalia^ Book IV., chap. iii. 



no AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

son. After the retirement of the New England minis- 
ters, a terrible Indian war broke out, and the colonists 
were reduced to sad extremities. The better nature of 
Harrison now asserted itself, and he became a pious man 
and a Puritan.* The Governor was not pleased with the 
change, and soon after dismissed him from his service. 
Harrison then devoted himself to the Puritans of Nanse- 
mond ; but in 1648 was forced to retire to Boston. From 
thence he went to England and complained to the Gov- 
ernment of the ill-treatment of the Puritans in Virginia. 
The Council of State, which had become Puritan, in 1649 
ordered the Governor of Virginia to reinstate him.f But 
he remained in England, and soon after went as chaplain 
to Henry Cromwell, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and 
preached in Dublin, exercising an important influence 
upon the growth of Puritanism there.if 

The flock left by Harrison removed to Maryland in 
1649, under the leadership of their ruling elder, William 
Durand. They were invited by the Governor, Captain 
William Stone, with the promise of toleration ; and 
they settled in Anne Rundell county and the adjacent 
Charles county. § 



* Harrison was born in Yorkshire, near Hull ; was taken to Virginia by his 
j>arents, when a child ; was brought up to be a clerg^^man of the Church of Eng- 
land ; was appointed chaplain to Governor Berkeley, and at first distinguished 
himself for strict conformity. 

t See Appendix VI. for a copy of this order. 

J E. D. Neill, A'o^es on the Virginia Colonial Clergy^ p. 15 ; Urwick, Inde- 
pende?icy in Dublin 0/ the Olden Time^ Dublin, 1862, p. 19. 

§ In the History of New England from the English Planting in 1628 untill 
the yeare 1652, p. 227, it is said that " he and his people were compelled to re- 
move many miles up into the country where they now remain." William Du- 
rand was subsequently made Secretary of the Commission and took an import- 
ant part in the colony of Maryland. Leonard Strong (Babylons Pall in Mary- 
land, 1655) gives an account of the removal : " In the year 1649 many, both of 
the congregated church, and other well affected people in Virginia, being de- 
barred from the free exercise of religion, under the government of Sir Wm. 
Barkely, removed themselves, families and estates into the province of Maryland, 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. m 

Francis Doughty, the Presbyterian minister who had 
fled from New York,* sought refuge in the colony of 
Maryland, where his brother-in-law, Captain William 
Stone, was governor. He ministered in Maryland and 
Virginia until his death.f He became the apostle of 



being thereunto imated by Capt . Wm. Stone, then Governor for Lord Baltimore, 
with promise of liberty in religion, and priviledge of English subjects" (p. i). 
He also mentions " Providence, the chief place of the residence of the most of 
the commissioners, and people that were forced out of Virginia by Sir Wm. 
Barkely for conscience sake " (p. 7). John Langford {A Just and cleare refu' 
tat ion of a false and scandalous pamphlet^ entitled Babylonsfall in Maryland^ 
&c., London, 1655) confirms this : " Capt. Stone (who is well known to be a 
zealous and well affected Protestant) being Gov. of Maryland under the Lord 
Baltimore, did receive and protect in Maryland these people and their families 
mentioned by Mr. Strong, when they were distressed in Virginia, among whom 
it is to be noted that Mr. Richard Bennet (afterwards Gov. of Virginia) was 
one" (p. 3). There was a Commission sent from England in 165 1 to reduce 
Virginia to the obedience of the Parliament. Maryland was included in the 
Commission, but afterwards struck out on the ground that " Capt. Stone was 
generally known to have been always zealously affected to the Parliament and 
that diverse of the Parliaments friends were by the Lord Baltimore's especial 
directions received into Maryland and well treated there, when they were forced 
to leave Virginia for their good affections to the Parliament " (p. 6). Webster 
{History of the Presbyterian Church in America from its oi'igin until the year 
1760, Philadelphia, 1857, p. 75) relies upon Bancroft for his statement that the 
Puritans driven from Nansemond retired to North Carolina ; and that Duranl's 
neck in Perquimans county perpetuates the name of the godly elder of that or- 
thodox congregation ; but Bancroft {History of the United States^ Boston, 1874, 
24th ed.. Vol, XL, p. 134) speaks of the neck of land given to George Durant by 
the chief of the Yeopim Indians in 1662, and referring to Winthrop, II,, 334, for 
the Mr. Durand of Nansemond, elder of a Puritan very orthodox church in that 
county, and banished from Virginia in 1648 by Sir Wm. Berkeley, simply asks 
the question, " Were the exile and the colonist in any way connected ?" The 
evidence that we have presented answers Bancroft's question in the negative. 

* See p. loi. 

t He was at Patuxent on Sunday, October 12, 1659, at a dinner given to the 
Dutch commissioners at the house of Secretary Calvert. He preached in Setling- 
bourne Parish in Virginia, and was complained of to the Governor for refusing 
to allow John Catlett and Humphrey Boote " to communicate in the blessed or- 
dinance of the Lord's supper"; and was charged with being a " nonconformist." 
(See Documentary History of New York^ II., p, 93 ; O'Callaghan, New Nether- 
land, II., p. 551 ; E. D. Neill, Maryland in the Beginning, p, 43, and his Vir- 
ginia Colonial Clergy, pp. 16-17,) Doughty's daughter, widow of Adrien Van 
der Donck, married Hugh O'Neal, of Maryland. 



112 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Presbyterianism in America. He preached here and 
there to little flocks, which were subsequently gathered 
into the Presbyterian Church, when it was organized in 
Presbyteries and Synods. Driven from one place by in- 
tolerance and persecution, he fled to another. He car- 
ried on his master's work in spite of difliculties of every 
kind. It is probable that he ministered to the Puritans 
who had been exiled from Virginia by the intolerance 
of Governor Berkeley. 

The work of Doughty in Maryland was carried on by 
Matthew Hill." Through the influence of Richard Bax- 
ter he removed to Charles county, Maryland ; from 
thence he writes a letter to Richard Baxter, dated April 
13, 1669, in which he says: "Divine Providence hath 
cast my lot amongst a loving and a willing people and 
we enjoy a public opportunity with a great deal of free- 
dom. That which, as I hope, will make my work the more 
successful, is, the people are not at all found of the lit- 
urgy or ceremonies." He thinks that two or three itin- 
erant preachers would be sustained by the people, and 
urges that they should be sent over. He also says : 
^' We have many also of the reformed religion who have 
a long while lived as sheep without a shepherd, though 
last year brought in a young man from Ireland who hath 
already had good success in his work." . . . . " We have 
room for more ministers, though their encouragement as 
I judge cannot be altogether as great as ours who are 
already settled ; because we are where the people and 
the plantations are the thickest." f 



* Hill was born in York, England, educatd at Magdalen College, Cambridge, 
and ordained by the ministers of York June 23, 1652, to the charge of Helaugh, 
a little town about six miles from York. A copy of his certificate of ordination 
is preserved. We give it in the Appendix VII. He soon after removed to 
Thrusk, in Yorkshire, whence he was ejected for nonconformity in 1662. He 
obtained a chaplaincy for a while in Surrey, but became very much reduced in 
health and circumstances, 

t See Appendix VIII., where the letter is given in full. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISxM IN AMERICA. 113 

Matthew Hill labored in this region for some years; 
at least until 1676.^ Calamy tells us 

" That new troubles and difficulties arose afterwards, which very 
much disappointed his hopes and expectations, so that it may be 
said as truly of him, as of any one of modern times, that it was 
thro' many tribulations that he enter'd into the kingdom of God. 
His whole life was indeed a comment upon Prov. xvi. 9, 33. Not 
being allowed to serve God according to his conscience in his 
native country, he was forced into the remotest parts, where he 
laid his bones in a strange land, but with the same hope of an 
happy resurrection unto eternal life, as if the same spot of land 
that brought him forth had also entombed him."t 

To Francis Doughty and Matthew Hill, long forgotten 
worthies, the Presbyterian Church in the Middle States 
is indebted for its earliest planting. They were the 
pioneers and martyrs in its ministry, and their sufferings 
and toils were the seed of the Church. 

The Irish minister who was laboring in Maryland in 
1668 may have been one of those who were driven into 
exile at the time of the persecution in Ireland on ac- 
count of "the Blood Plot," which continued from 1663- 
1668.$ 

Charles Nicholet, one of the Puritan ministers ejected 
on St. Bartholomew's day, was a contemporary of Hill in 



* John Higg:inson writes to Increase Mather, Aug. 24, 1674, that he had baen 
warned against Charles Nicholet by " Mr. Hill and Mr. Sally in Virginia " {Collec- 
tions of the Mass. Hist. Soc, a,\>x Series, VIIL, p. 269). This Mr. Sally is 
Richard Salwey who received from the colony 260 lbs. of tobacco in 1676 on 
account of services to the State. At the same time Matthew Hill received 250 
lbs., and Col. Ninian Beal 2,850 lbs. (W. H. Browne, Archives of Maryland, 
1666-1676, Baltimore, pp. 552 seq.) 

t Calamy, Account of the Ministers, Lecturers, Masters, and Fellows of Col- 
leges and Schoolmasters who wej'e ejected or silenced after the Restoration in 
1660. London, 1713, 2d edition, II., p. 833. 

X Patrick Adair, True narrative of the rise and progress of the Presbyterian 
Church in Ireland (1623-1670), with an introduction and notes by W. D. Kit- 
len, Belfast, 1866, pp. 271 seq.\ Reid, Presbyterian Church of Ireland, II., p. 
383- 

8 



114 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Maryland. April i6, 1669, he was charged by William 
Calvert with disrespect, in his sermon to the Lower House. 
He was compelled to apologize and pay a fine of forty 
shillings. He excused himself on the ground that " he 
was desired by some of the members to stir up the Low- 
er House to do their duty." He removed to New Eng- 
land in 1672, and settled at Salem, Massachusetts.* 

The troubles of Matthew Hill were doubtless occa- 
sioned by the inroads of the Quakers upon his congre- 
gation. George Fox and William Edmundson, chief 
apostles of the Quakers, arrived on the Patuxent in 
1672, and made many converts.f 

William Durand was ruling elder among the Puritans 
during the times of Doughty and Hill. He was suc- 
ceeded by Col. Ninian Beal. Col. Beal was a contempo- 
rary of Matthew Hill, and lived to see the establishment 
of the first American Presbytery. He is probably the 
'' ancient comely man," ''an elder amongst the Presby- 
terians," who entertained the Quaker Thomas Wilson in 
1691.:}: He was the nucleus of Presbyterianism on the 
Patuxent during the last quarter of the 17th century. 



*W. H. Browne, Archives of Maryland^ 1666-1676, pp. 159-163. Daniel 
Neal, History of New E?7g/a?id, London, 1730, II., p. 33S. The pastor at 
Salem, John Higg-inson, was opposed to him on account of letters received from 
Hill and Salley, and because of certain supposed errors in doctrine. The people, 
however, insisted on having him as an associate to Higginson. But the difScul- 
ties continued until they resulted in the removal of Nicholet. He preached his 
fEurewell sermon April, 1676, and sailed for England with recommendations to 
the churches of London and elsewhere. {Collections of Mass. Hisi. Soc, ^.th 
Series, VIII., p. 271.) 

tE. D. Neill, Founders of Maryland^ p. 144. 

X Ninian Beal is mentioned in the Act of the Assembly of Maryland in connec- 
tion \vith Matthew Hill, May 16, 1676. He died in 1710. Thomas Wilson says : 
"A3 we were travelling, met with two men, one of whom being an ancient 
comely man, kindly invited us to his house, where we staid two nights and had a 
meeting, though he was an elder amongst the Presbyterians. He also lent U5 
his boat to go over Potomack river." {Friends Libraj-y^ Vol. II., Philadelphia 
1838, p. 326.) 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. H^ 

During the troublous times from 1670-1680 a consid- 
erable number of families removed from the North of 
Ireland to the Barbadoes, Maryland, and Virginia. The 
Presbytery of Laggan, in Ireland, seems to have been 
deeply interested in these emigrants. April 28, 1678, 
they received an application for a minister for the Bar- 
badoes, and December 29, 1680, for a minister for Mary- 
land.* 

But efforts in this direction by the Presbytery of 
Laggan were suddenly cut short by the outbreak of a 
violent persecution which has left its traces in the Minute 
Book of the Presbytery.f The last meeting was an ex- 
traordinary meeting, with William Traill moderator. It 
seems that a special fast was resolved upon ; Traill and 
four other ministers of the Presbytery held it; they were 
arrested by the arbitrary government, examined by the 
justice of the peace at Raphoe, summoned to the privy 
council in Dublin, remitted to the assizes at Lifford, 
where they were fined and imprisoned from August 11, 
168 1, to April 20, 1682. After his release William Traill 
went to Maryland and remained for some years, until 



* The minutes of this Presbytery, preserved in the McGee College, London- 
derry, Ireland, contain the following records : April 28, 1678, " Mr. William 
Dennistoun came before the meeting presenting the business of the planting of 
a godlie minister in Barbadoes according to Capt, Arch. Johnston's desire, signi- 
fied by letters to some of the members of the meeting, and the meeting was well 
pleased with the motion and were willing to entertain it." They appointed Mr. 
Craighead to correspond with Mr. Johnston for further information. Dec. 29, 
1680, " ColloneU Stevens from Maryland beside Virginia, his desire of a godly 
minister is presented to us, the meeting will consider it seriously and do what 
they can in it. Mr. John Hoart is to write to Mr. Keys about this and Mr. 
Robert Rule to the meetings of Route and Tyrone and Mr. William Traill to 
the meetings of Down and Antrim." February 2, 1680(1) it was reported : 
*' Letters were written (according to appointment) about the Maryland business. 
The meetings of Tyrone and Downe answer that the matter is not yet ripe and 
they desire further information about the case and encouragements &c. Meeting 
can do no more in it till we get further information about this matter." 

+ There is a blank from July 31, 1681, to December 30, 1690. 



116 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

after the revolution in 1688, when he returned and be- 
came minister of Borthwick, near Edinburgh, September 
17, 1690. It has not yet been determined where he min- 
istered in Maryland. It is likely that he went to the 
eastern shore of Maryland, whence Col. Stevens wrote to 
his Presbytery for a minister.* 

Francis Makemie removed to America in 1683. f It 
seems probable that he went first to Maryland, where 
William Traill, the most influential member of his Pres- 
bytery, was at work. He did not remain there, but 
seems to have designed to settle on the Ashley River, 
South Carolina, whence a Puritan minister, Thomas Bar- 
rett, was about to return to Boston. He started on his 
journey thither by sea, but on his way preached- at Lynn- 
haven, on the Elizabeth River. He sailed, May, 1684, 
from North Carolina for Ashley River, but was driven 
by contrary winds and compelled again to seek refuge 
on the Elizabeth River, where he remained for several 
months, preaching to the bereaved congregation, who 
had lost their Irish minister in August of the previous 
year.J Makemie did not settle permanently for some 
years, but preached as an itinerant, here and there, in 



*See Hugh Scott, Fasti. Eccl. Scot.^ I., p. 267, and John Small, Indian 
Primer^ by John Eliot^ Edinburgh, 1880, p. xlv. This William Traill was son 
of Robert Traill minister of Edinburgh. He was baptized September 2S, 1640, 
studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated June 30, 1658. He 
was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian congregation at Lifford, in the Presby- 
tery of Laggan, Ireland, in 1672. He appears on the minutes of the Presbytery 
as clerk, and seems to have been the most efficient member of the body. He 
remained at Borthwick until his death, May 3, 1714. He presented to the 
Library of the University of Edinburgh the only copy of John Eliot's Covenant- 
ing Catechism now known to be in existence, which he brought with him from 
America two years previously. 

t See Appendix IX. for an account of the early life and training of Francis 
Makemie. 

J The name of this Irish minister has not yet been discovered, and we know 
nothing of his ministry beyond the fact of his death and the bereavement of his 
congregation, thus incidentally given by Makemie. (See Appendix X.) 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. H^ 

Maryland, Virginia:, and the Barbadoes. He was a mer- 
chant as well as a preacher, and combined mercantile pur- 
suits with the preaching of the gospel at his own charges. 
It would seem that he removed from Elizabeth River 
to the eastern shore of Virginia early in 1690. About 
this time Josias Makie arrived from Ireland to take his 
place, and he seems to have gone to Accomac county 
in place of William Traill. He did not settle there, at 
this time ; for he went to London in 1 691, and returned 
early in 1692.* 

In 1692 he came into conflict with George Keith, the 
itinerant Quaker, who visited him at his house and dis- 
puted with him. Keith urged Makemie to a public 
disputation, but Makemie declined on the ground that 
it would be unprofitablcf Makemie had published a 
Catechism which was the chief cause of the debate, for 
it had attacked the Quakers and antagonized many of 
their principles. Makemie challenged Keith to oppose 
his Catechism in writing. Keith did so, and left the 
document '' in the hands of a Mr. George Layfield at 
Rehoboth in Pocamock." To it Makemie immediately 
replied.^ 



* He appears on the Records of Accomac county February 17, 1650. He was 
then engaged in the West India trade. February 21, 1692, 450 acres of land 
were granted to him by that court. He manied Naomi, daughter of William 
Anderson, of Accomac. (I. Spence, Letters on the Early History of the Pres' 
byterian Church z?i America^ Philadelphia, 1838, pp. 163 seg.) 

t F. Makemie, Answer to George Keith'' s Libel against a Catechism pub- 
lished by Francis Makemie^ Boston, 1694, p, 72. 

X This Catechism has not yet been discovered. We have dihgently searched for 
it, in the leading libraries of Great Britain and America. Makemie says that 
" After it was first composed, I did compendize and abreviate it, oftener than once, 
to suit it to the capacities of such for whom it was prepared — even young ones." 
Keith charged, *' His whole work is a collection from others." To this Makemie 
replies: "And that it is a collection from the Scriptures of the living God, I 
never will deny, but glory in it. If Keith mean from others, it is false and there 
is no mention of these others in the Title page " (p. 24). Makemie's Answer is 
composed of four parts : (i) A Preface in which he gives an account of the dis- 



118 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Francis Makemie did not remain in Accomac, but in 
August, 1692, went to Philadelphia, and soon after re- 
moved to the Barbadoes, where he engaged in business, 
and was pastor of a church for several years until 
the spring of 1698."^ August 15, 1699, he produced at 
the Accomac court certificates of his qualification to 
preach from Barbadoes ; and was thereupon licensed to 
preach " in his own dwelling house in Pocomoke, near 
the Maryland line and at Onancock, five miles from 
Drummondton, or the house next to Jonathan Live- 
seys."f The church of Snow Hill, Maryland, and four 
others in the vicinity, were soon after organized and en- 
joyed his ministry for some years. 

The congregation on the Elizabeth River was supplied 
by Josias Mackie.ij: He probably began his ministry 



pute. (2) The paper of Keith which he publishes in full, and with regard to 
which he says : "As I have prefixed his paper verbatim so I expect the same 
priviledge is mine, if any answer is published." But no answer was published so 
far as we can learn. (3) The Short Answer itself, which takes up the body of 
the work. And (4) The Appendix, giving an account of the quarrels of the Qua- 
kers in Pennsylvania occasioned by Keith. The Preface has the date of July 26, 
1692, but it was not published till 1694. The Appendix mentions the date of his 
visit to Pennsylvania as August, 1692. 

* His name does not appear on the Records of Accomac county, Virginia, 
from February 21, 1692, until October 4, 1698, when it appears in connection 
with the Will of his father-in-law who left Makemie and his wife 1,000 
acres at Matchatank. (Spence, in /. c, pp. 163-171.) He writes a long 
letter from the Barbadoes, dated December 28, 1696, which was published 
at Edinburgh in 1699 under the title, Truths in a True Lights or a Pas- 
toral Letter to the Reformed Protestants in Barbadoes vindicating the No7i- 
conformists, from the misrepresentations^ commonly made of them in that 
island^ and in other places ; and demonstrating, that they are indeed the truest 
and soundest part of the Church of England. He also writes two letters to 
Increase Mather from thence, the one dated January 17, 1697(8), the other Febru- 
ary 12, 1697(8). In one of these he expresses his anxiety to leave, and states that 
he has been for two years prevented " from going off for my health, for want of 
supply." (See the letters in Appendix X.) 

t Webster, in /. c, p. 301. 

X He was son of Patrick Mackie, of St. Johnstone, County Donegal, Ireland. 
(W. B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, N. Y., i860, III., p. 9.) On 
the Minutes of the Presbytery of Laggan at McGee College, Londonderry, is the fol- 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. HQ 

in 1691. He took the oath of fidelity to the British 
Crown and renounced all connection with the Roman 
Catholic Church, and received permission to preach, 
June 22, 1692, at the house of Thomas Ivy on the East- 
ern Branch, the house of Richard Phillpot in Tanner's 
Creek precinct, and the house of John Roberts on the 
Western Branch. In 1693 he was discouraged and 
thought of returning to Ireland, but finally resolved to 
remain. November 18, 1696, another place of meeting 
was granted at John Dickson's on the Southern Branch. 
He remained in charge of this congregation until his 
death in November, 17 16.* 

The Presbyterians on the Patuxent were kept together 
by their godly elder. Col. Ninian Beal, from the time of 
Matthew Hill until the arrival of Nathaniel Taylor. We 
cannot tell whether there were any ministers to this people 
during this long time. It is also uncertain at what time 
Nathaniel Taylor began his ministry there. f He was 



lowing record : ' ' Mch. 25, 1693. The meeting being certainly informed that Mr. 
Josias M'Kee resolves speedily to return to Europe from Virginia, Mr. Craig- 
head is appointed to write to him inviting him to this meeting in case he find 
that he cannot continue in America." In the British Museum, MSS. 27,382, ff. 
197-228, there is an Account of the present state and government of Virginia, 
signed by Henry Hartwell, James Blair, and E, Chilton, written not later than 
1691, saying : " There are few or no dissenters in that country, not so many of 
any sort as to set up a meeting house except 3 or 4 meetings of Quakers and one 
of Presbyterians." This one Presbyterian meeting-house, without doubt, be- 
longed to the congregation on Elizabeth River. 

* I. W. K. Handy gives from the official records of Norfolk county important 
information respecting Mackie, in Sprague, Annals^ HI., pp. 5 seq. The minutes 
of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, Sept. 22, 1712, record : " A complaint of the 
melancholy circumstance of Mr. Jo. Macky, in Elizabeth River, labours under, 
by Mr. Henry, the Presbytery was concerned. And Mr. John Hampton saying 
that he desinged to write to him in an affair of his own, the Presbytery desired 
him to signify their regard to, and concern for him." He died between the 7th 
and i6th of November, 1716. His will is dated Nov. 7th, and it was proved on 
the i6th of the month . 

+ The tradition followed by Charles Hodge (Constitutional History of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States^ Philadelphia, 1851, I. 57), that Na- 
thaniel Taylor came over with a congregation of Scots from Fifeshire in 1690, 



120 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

either sent over by the London ministers, or was a mis- 
sionary from the Boston ministers. This congregation 
on the Patuxent had no church building, although they 
had a venerable ruling elder, Ninian Beal.* The name 
of Nathaniel Taylor first appears in a deed of gift of 
Ninian Beal. He gave half an acre of land " for ye 
erecting and building a house for ye service of almighty 
God," Nov. 20, 1704. Col. Ninian Beal thus overlaps 
Matthew Hill and Nathaniel Taylor, and is the connect- 
ing link with William Durand, the elder, who led the 
persecuted Puritans from Nansemond, Virginia, to the 
Patuxent, Maryland. f 

and the supposition of Webster, in /. f., p. 318, that he was " ordained in Scot- 
land in 1702 or '3 and came immediately to Marlborough, on the Patuxent," are 
inconsistent and equally without evidence. We have not been able to find any 
such name as Nathaniel Taylor in the Registers of the Universities of Scotland or 
among the ministers of the Church of Scotland. The name is rather an English 
Puritan name. It seems much more likely that Nathaniel Taylor was sent from 
New England. We have thj following weighty evidence that New England 
ministers were working in Maryland at the close of the 17th century. George 
Keith writes to Dr. Thomas Bray from Philadelphia, Feb. 24, 1702(3) (Letter 
Book, S. P. G.), " Some well affected to the Church have desired me to write 
to my Lord Bishop of London, and to say, that if a minister be not sent with the 
first conveniency Presbyterian ministers from New England would swarm into 
these new countries and prevent the increase of the church." The Maryland 
clergy write to the Lord Bishop of London, from Port Annapolis, May 18, 1696 
(W. S. Perry, Historical Collections^ Maryland^ 1878, p. 8), " When his excel- 
lency Gov. Nicholson, came into the country in the year 1694, there were but 
three clergymen in episcopal orders, besides 5 or 6 popish priests. There was 
also a sort of wandering pretenders to preaching that came from New England 
and other places, which deluded not only the Protestant dissenters from our 
church but many of the churchmen themselves, by their extempore prayers and 
preachments, for which they were admitted by the people and got money of 
them." 

^T\i^ Rolls office, London, in ihe Maryland Documettts^ IIL, B. 39, contains a 
Report of the sheriffs of aU the Counties of Maryland, with reference to the state 
of religion in Maryland, Aug. 1697, which knows only *' A house at Snow Hill, 
one at the road going up along the sea side and one at Manoakin about thirty 
feet long, plain country buildings all of them." These wete all in Somerset 
county. 

fin this deed of gift, given in Appendix XII., several names are mentioned 
which appear as elders in the Minutes of the Presbytery of Philadelphia and the 
Synod of Philadelphia. James Stoddard, 1707 ; Alexander Beal, 1708, '9 and 
'14; James Beal, 1713, and Archibald Edmundson, 1716. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERiANlSM IN AMERICA. 121 

V. — PRESBYTERiANlSM IN NEW JERSEY. 

Eastern New Jersey was largely settled by Puritans 
from New England and New York. The first Puritan 
church in the colony was removed from Branford, Con- 
necticut, to Newark, New Jersey, in 1667, under the care 
of the venerable pastor, Abraham Pierson.* His son 
Abraham was associated with him as assistant pastor in 
1669, and after the death of his father remained sole pas- 
tor till 1692, when he removed to Connecticut, and sub- 
sequently became the first rector of Yale College. 

Jeremiah Peck began preaching at Elizabethtown in 
1668, where he remained for ten years. He was followed 
by Seth Fletcher from 1 680-1 682, when he died. Both 
of these ministers were New England Puritans.f John 
Allin began preaching at Woodbridge, September, 1680, 
but he served only a few years, for he died Jan. 2, 1683.:!: 

There are several letters giving an account of the re- 
ligious condition of the colony in 1684. They repre- 
sent that there was but one settled minister at this time, 
Abraham Pierson, Jr., at Newark.§ 



*We have met him at Southampton, Long Island. (See p 100.) From thence 
he removed with a portion of his flock to Branford, Conn., because he was dis- 
satisfied with the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Colony. But when the New 
Haven Colony united with the Connecticut Colony, he removed with his flock to 
Newark, with the determination that all civil power should be restricted to mem- 
bers of the Congregational churches. (J . F. Stearns, Historical Discourses re- 
lating to the First Presbyterian Church in Newark^ Newark, 1883, pp. 26 seq. , 

t E. F. Hatfield, History of Elizabeth, N. Y., 1868, pp. 201 seq. 

X He was a graduate of Harvard in 1643. (Sibley, I., pp. 99, 527.) 

§" There be people of several sorts of Religion, but few very zealous. The 
people being mostly New England men, doe mostly incline their way, and in 
every Town there is a meeting house where they worship publickly every Week : 
They have no publick Law in the countrey for maintaining public Teachers, but 
the Towns that have them make way with themselves to maintain them. We 
know none that hath a settled Preacher that follows no other Imployment, save 
one Town Newark." (Letter 29, Mch., 1684, in George Scot, Model of the Gov- 
ernment of the Province of East New Jersey in Atnerica, Edinburgh, 1685. 
Republished in Collections of the New Jersey Historical Society, I., 1846, p. 291.) 
•' There are here very good Religious People, they go under the name of hide- 



122 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

In 1685, Geo. Scot, of Pillochie, embarked for New 
Jersey with upwards of a hundred other Scotsmen and 
two ministers, Archibald Riddel and John Frazer. They 
were allowed to exchange the prisons in which they had 
been confined on account of their fidelity to Presbyterian 
principles, for exile. The voyage was a bad one, and 
disease carried off a great number of the passengers, in- 
cluding the leader, George Scot, and the wife of Riddel. 
The remainder arrived in safety, and settled at Wood- 
bridge, New Jersey. Riddel remained with them as pas- 
tor until June, 1689, when he returned to Scotland.* 
John Frazer removed to Woodbury, Connecticut, and 
preached at Woodbury until the Revolution, when he 
returned to Scotland. f 

In 1687, the church at Elizabethtown called John 
Harriman,:}: a graduate of Harvard College (1667). He 
remained pastor until his death, Aug. 20, 1705. In Oc- 
tober, 1695, Samuel Shepard settled at Woodbridge, and 
remained until I702.§ 

pendents, but are most like to the Presbyterians, only they will not receive every 
one to their society ; we have great need of good and Faithful ministers, And I 
wish to God, that there would come some over here ; they can live as well, and 
have as much as in Scotland, and more than many get ; we have none within all 
the Province of East Jersey except one who is Preacher in Newark ; there were 
one or two Preachers more in the Province, but they are dead, and now the peo- 
ple they meet together every Sabbath day, and Read and Pray, and sing Psalms 
in their meeting-houses." (Letter of Peter Watson, Aug. 23, 1684, in G. Scot, 
Model, p. 332.) 

* He graduated from the University of Edinburgh July 9, 1656 ; was ordained 
to Kippen, in the Presbytery of Dunblaine, in 1670 ; was imprisoned from 1677- 
1685. He sailed for England from Woodbridge June, 1689, was captured by 
the French, but soon after ransomed. He returned to Kippen in 1691. He was 
transferred to Wemyss, Sept. 28, 1691, and from thence to Kirkcaldy, May 20, 
1697, and thenc3 to Trinity College Church, Edinburgh, Dec. 8, 1701. He died 
Feb. 17, 1708, in his 73d year, "a singularly pious and laborious servant of Jesus 
Chiist." (Hugh Scott, Fasti. Eccl. Scot., II., pp. 13c, 562, 515 ; I. 37.) 

+ He became minister at Alness Nov. 19, 1696, where he remained until his 
death, Nov. 7, 1711. (Hugh Scott, Fasti. Fed. Scot., V., p. 291.) 

X See p. 105. 

§ He was son of Samuel Shepard, pastor of Rowley, Mass. He graduated at 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 123 

The earliest Puritan church in West Jersey was estab- 
lished at Cohanzy, under the ministry of Thomas Bridge,* 
in the period from 1 692-1 697. This congregation was 
composed of Puritans from Fairfield county, Connecticut, 
and they named these towns after Fairfield and Green- 
wich, in Connecticut. He remained pastor of this flock 
until 1704, when he went to Boston and became pastor 
of the 1st church of Boston. f 

At the close of the seventeenth century the colony of 
New Jersey had but four congregations of Puritans and 
three settled ministers : John Prudden at Newark, John 
Harriman at Elizabethtown, and Thomas Bridge at Co- 
hanzy. 

VI.— PRESBYTERIANISM IN PENNSYLVANIA AND DELA- 
WARE. 

The earliest Presbyterian minister in Delaware was Sam- 
uel Davis, who was engaged in business, and also preached 



Harvard in 1685. (See W. A. Whitehead, Contributions to the Early History 
of Perth Amboy, N. Y., 1856, pp. 384 seq.) 

* Thomas Bridge came to Boston from England in 1682 with testimonials from 
a number of London ministers, among whom we may mention Samuel Lee, John 
Owen, and Matthew Mead. (It is No. 54 in Vol. IV. of the Mather Papers in 
the Boston Public Library.) He went to Port Royal in Jamaica and ministered 
there several years. (There is a letter from thence June 3, 1686, to Dr. Mather, 
in No. 15, Vol. VI., of Mather Papers.) He subsequently removed to the Ber- 
mudas. Daniel Cox, M.D., of London, one of the West Jersey proprietors, 
wrote to him, August 15, 1692, urging him to settle in West Jersey. The /V««- 
sylvania Magazine 0/ History and Biography^ V., p. 114, contains this letter, 
also a letter from the West Jersey Society in England, to Mr. Bridge, dated July 
29, 1692, promising him a thousand acres for himself, and an additional thousand 
for the perpetual use of the ministry of the church to be established at Cohanzy. 
This land was surveyed at Cohanzy, May 17, 1697. All these documents are said 
to be in the office of the Secretary of State at Trenton, N. J. (See also W. A. 
Whitehead, Documents relating to the Cvlonial History 0/ New Jersey^ New- 
ark, 1881, Vol. II., pp. 95-96.) 

t A letter to Thomas Bridge at Cohanzy, dated April 22, 1703, is given in the 
American Quarterly Register ^ xiv., p. 404. He removed to Boston in 1704, 
and was installed May 10, 1705. He remained in Boston until his death. 



124 AMERICAN PRESS YTERIANISM. 

at Lewes, Delaware. He was at work there prior to July, 
1692. He was probably an Irishman.* While the min- 
isters of New Haven and Fairfield county, Connecticut, 
were caring for the little flocks in New York and New 
Jersey, the Boston ministers were also active in caring 
for the flocks on the Delaware. Increase and Cotton 
Mather were especially efficient in this regard. Benja- 
min Colman subsequently aided them in the work.f 
Mather and Colman were in constant correspondence 
with the leading Presbyterians of England, Ireland, and 
Scotland. In 1698 the Boston ministers sent Benjamin 
Woodbridge to Philadelphia, and John Wilson to New 
Castle, on the Delaware. Benjamin Woodbridge was a 
kindly and generous-minded man. J He came to Phila- 



* He was visited by George Keith, the Quaker, July, 1692, who complained to 
him against Francis Makemie. (See Makemie, Answer to George KeitJt's Libel 
against a Catechism^ p. 72.) We have not been able to trace Samuel Davis to 
his origin. The name led us to think that he was Welsh in origin. But 
the following letter of Thos. Crawford seems to point to him, and in the 
absence of evidence to the contrary, its evidence should be accepted. Pos- 
sibly he was from the region of Dublin, Ireland, where considerable numbers 
of Welsh and English Puritans were settled. A letter from Thos. Crawford to 
the Secretary of the 6". P. G., April 3, 1706, from Dover Hundred, says : " I was 
lately in Sussex Co. where I preached several times, where I found a people 
mighty civil and a great many well inclined to the church," .... "They desire 
a supply by reason there is a Presbyterian preacher in the place whom, when I 
was there, I sent for, but refused me a meeting ; his life is not very regular and I 
hope will do us no hurt." In another letter of Crawford to Rev. Mr. Stubbs, 
April 8, 1706, from the same place, he says : " Sir, I was invited by the gentle- 
men of the west county (viz Sussex) and upon their desire I went and preached 
at one Capt. Hills house, then at Lewistown, and on a third time in another 
place ; and I found them all in general inclined to the church (tho an Irish 
Presbyterian has preached there some years) and after conversation with them 
they joined in an address to my Lord of London for a minister." (Perry, Hist. 
Collections^ pp. 2 and 4.) The Irish Presbyterian referred to seems to be Davis. 

t Colman went to London as a young man and co-operated with the Presby- 
terians. He served as a missionary of the Presbyterian Board, at Cambridge 
and at Bath, He was ordained in London by the Presbyterians in 1699, and re- 
turned to Boston in hearty sympathy with them. (Turrell, Life of Colman^ Bos- 
ton, 1749, p. 44 ; American Quarterly Register, xv., pp. 348-351.) 

X See Appendix XIII. for a further account of Benjamin Woodbridge, and an 
important letter from him to the Lord Bishop of London. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 125 

delphia with a letter of introduction to Gov. Markham 
from Gov. Danforth, of Massachusetts, in which it is 
said : '' Our beloved Bro. Mr. Benj. Woodbridge, now 
sent, not to handle such points as are matters of contro- 
versies among Protestants, but to preach unto as many 
of all persuasions as the Lord shall make willing to hear 
such truths even as are without controversy, even the 
great mystery of Godliness." "^ 

But for some unknown reason Woodbridge soon re- 
tired, and Jedediah Andrews took his place.f He ar- 
rived in Philadelphia from Boston in the summer of 
1698. The Baptists and the Puritans had been worship- 
ping in the same building, the one in the morning, the 
other in the afternoon. But they discontinued the prac- 
tice in November of this year, owing to an unhappy 
misunderstanding.ij: Andrews seems to have been or- 
dained in Philadelphia in i/oi.g Jedediah Andrews con- 



* See Perry, Historical Collections^ 1871, II., p. 8. 

+ Andrews was bom at Hingham, Mass., under the pastorate of Peter Hobart, 
who had always been a Presbyterian. He graduated from Harvard in 1695. 

X Thos. Clayton, the first Church of England minister in Philadelphia, wrote 
November 29, 1698, to the Governor of Pennsylvania : " I have often talked with 
the Presbyterian minister and find him such as I could wish. They tell me that 
have heard him that he makes a great noise ; but this did not amaze me, consid- 
ering the bulk and emptiness of the thing, but he is so far from growing upon us 
that he threatens to go home in the spring, and could this be a quiet place for 
him, yet he ought to do this according to the laudable custom of Hugh Peters to 
bring them to abetter subscription." He also mentions that the Presbyterians 
and Baptists use the '* same meeting house, one in the morning and one in the 
afternoon," — "which I upbraided the Presbyterian with — all as being a direct 
cherishing of a schism against himself as well as me ; and would fain have set 
him to work against him ; but could not spur him to it." (Perry, Historical 
Collections y II., p. 14, from Fulham MSS.) He seems not to have known of the 
difficulty which had already arisen, and which is set forth in the correspondence 
between Rev. John Watts of the Baptist church in Pennepek and Jedediah An- 
drews. (See an account of this affair in the Appendix XIV.) 

§ Talbot writes to the Secretary of the S. P. G., September i, 1703 : " The 
Presbyterians here come a great way to lay hands one on another, but, after all, 
I think they had as good stay at home for the good they do." (Ernest Hawkins, 
Historical Notices 0/ the Missions 0/ the Church 0/ England in the North 



126 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

tinued as pastor of this flock for many years until his 
death. He became one of the fathers of the first Amer- 
ican classical Presbytery. 

The church at New Castle, whither John Wilson went, 
was originally a Dutch Reformed church, founded by 
John Polhemus in 1658. It continued as a Dutch church 
until 1684. In 1698 Wilson became the minister, but 
he does not seem to have established a permanent re- 
lation until 1703, when there appears to have been a 
bench of elders or congregational Presbytery.* This 
John Wilson was probably the grandson of the original 
pastor of Boston, and was sent with Benjamin Wood- 
bridge from Boston.f 



American Colonies^ London, 1845, p. 37 ; and Webster, in /. c.^ p. 314.) Geo. 
Keith writes to Dr. Bray from Philadelphia, February 24, 1702(3) {Letter Book, 
S. P. G.) : " They have here a Presbyterian meeting and minister, one called 
Andrews, but they are not like to increase here." 

* Spotswood, Sketch of the Presbyterian Church 0/ New Castle, Phil. , 1869, 
See, also, letter of Mr. Ross, March i, 1727,, to the Sec. S. P. G., and W, S. 
Perry, Historical Collections relating to the American Colonial Church, Vol. 
v., Delaware, 1878, p. 44. 

" The first inhabitants of this place were Dutch — a colony from New York 
and of the church of Holland. They built a small wooden church, where a 
minister of their own way and sometimes a reader, in their several capacities 
officiated. But when the town was surrendered to the English, and the Dutch 
remained unsupplied with a preacher, the said chapel was neglected and at 
length tumbled down, leaving a bell, which the county took possession of, and 
still retains (how justly I shall not enquire), and a lott of ground, as memoran- 
dum of its religious founders to posterity. In the year 1703, those in New 
Castle of the communion of the church of England, from a sense of a want of 
a person in holy orders to reside among them, and observing how the Presby- 
terians were gaining ground in the place by reason of their having a preacher to 
promote their interest, resolved to petition the Bishop of London to take com- 
passion on their deplorable circumstances." 

t The Mather papers contain two letters with reference to John Wilson at 
New Haven ; one from Jane Hook to John Wilson of Medford, son of John 
Wilson, the pastor of the first church of Boston, speaking of his son at New 
Haven {Mass. Plist. Coll., IV. Series, viii., p. 268) ; another from John Doxwell 
to Increase Mather, sent by John Wilson from New Haven, March 22, 1683(4). 
It seems that the New Haven church enjoyed his ministry for a year. He was 
baptized in Boston July 8, 1648, and married July 4, 1683, to a daughter of Rev. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 127 

The century closed with two Presbyterian ministers 
in Delaware, Samuel Davis at Lewes and John Wilson 
at Newcastle; and with one in Pennsylvania, Jedediah 
Andrews, at Philadelphia. 

VII.— PRESBYTERIANISM IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Scotchmen began to emigrate to America in large 
numbers after the battle of Bothwell in 1684, when large 
numbers were banished. A body of twenty-two sailed 
from Glasgow, on the ship " Eaglesham and Eastward," 
for Carolina. William Dunlop, a probationer, went with 
them and settled at Port Royal on the Broad River. 
But the place proved unhealthy, and the colony was soon 
broken up. William Dunlop served as pastor of this 
flock for several years ; but finally returned to Scotland, 
and subsequently became principal of the University of 
Glasgow.* 

The New England ministers also sent missionaries to 
Carolina. The first of these, whose names have come 



Roger Newton, of Milford, Conn. He disappears after this date {Mass. Hist. 
Coll.^ IV., Vol. viii., p. 165). The John Wilson of Delaware was sent from 
Boston in 1698. The settlement on the Delaware was indeed from New Haven 
and Fairfield. The lands were purchased in 1640 by Connecticut, and fifty fami- 
lies settled there. They were opposed by the Dutch and Swedes, but eventually 
gained the supremacy (William Hill, Amei-jcan Presbyteriam'sm, 1839, pp. 65 
seg.) That this John Wilson came from New England is clear from the follow- 
ing testimony : Mr. Moore writes a letter to F. Nicholson, Philadelphia, May 6, 
1698, " I am sony to acquaint your excellency that certain advice is come of two 
non-conformist ministers (one for Philadelphia, the other for New Castle) on the 
way thither from Boston" (W. S. Perry, Hist. Collections, II., p. 8). Thomas 
Clayton writes to the Governor, November 29, 1698 : "The other Presbyterian 
goes from Newcastle in the spring too (as I am told) " (in /. c, II,, p. 14). Geo. 
Keith writes to Dr. Bray from Philadelphia, February 24, 1702(3) : "At New- 
castle 40 miles from Philadelphia there is at present no minister, they had a 
Presbyterian minister called Wilson, but he has been gone about half a year." 
(See original letters S. P. G. ) 

* The Wodrow MSS. (Advocates' Library, Edinburgh), xxxvi., Rob. III., 11, 
64, contain a letter from Charleston, S. C, dated October 17, 1689, which men- 
tions William Dunlop the minister, and gives an account of the taking of a g^rl, 
named Eliza Lanning, on the ship to Carolina against her will. 



123 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

down to us, Is Thomas Barrett, who labored on the Ash- 
ley River prior to i684.'^' In i6go a Puritan church was 
established in Charlestown by Benjamin Pierpont,f who 
remained until his death in 1696 or'/, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Eliphalet Adams' and in 1698 by John Cot- 
ton, § who died September 8, 1699.II 

October 22, 1695, Joseph LordT[ organized a church 
at Charlestown, Mass., and removed with it to Dorches- 
ter, S. C, where he remained as pastor for more than 
twenty years.** 

June 25, 1695, a Scotch trading company was con- 
stituted, and an earnest effort was made to establish a 
Scotch colony on the Isthmus of Darien in 1698-9. 
The Commission of the General Assembly sent several 
ministers with the colony. Thomas James, Adam Scott, 
and Alexander Dagleish died at sea on the voyage out- 
ward. Alexander Shields, Francis Boreland, and Archi- 
bald Stobo arrived safely in the colony, and erected 
the Presbytery of Caledonia, the first classical Presby- 
tery on the American continent. But the colony was 
broken up in the following year, owing to the opposi- 
tion of the French and Spanish, and even English trad- 
ers, and the criminal neglect of the British Government, 
which was not in sympathy with a Scottish colony. 
The majority of the ministers and people sought refuge 
in New England, where they were kindly received. 
Alexander Shields died at Jamaica, on his homeward 
voyage, Francis Boreland removed to Scotland in 
safety, and returned to his parish, where he died in 



* See p. 116. t Harvard, 1689. t Harvard, 1694. 

§ Harvard, 1681. 

I Sprague, I., p. 29 ; Gillett, I., p. 242, American Quarterly Register^ XIV., 
p. 70. 

^ Harvard, 1691. 

** He returned to Massachusetts and was installed over the church at Charles- 
town, June 15, 1720. {American Qiiarte, ly Register, XIV., p. 70.) 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 129 

1722. Archibald Stobo set sail for Scotland. The 
vessel was overtaken by a storm and greatly damaged. 
Stobo was landed at Charleston, S. C. The Puritan 
congregation had just lost their pastor, John Cotton, 
who died Sept. 8, 1699. They were glad to receive 
the Scottish minister. They gave him a call, and he 
settled with them. His wife had shared all his hard- 
ships, and united with him in ministering to this congre- 
gation. Stobo devoted his life to the establishment of 
Presbyterianism in Carolina.* 

At the opening of the eighteenth century there was 
no strife between the Scotch and Irish Presbyterians and 
the Puritans of England and America, but only the most 
hearty sympathy and co-operation. This is manifest not 
only from the settling of Scotch and Irish ministers in 
New England, and their mingling together in the Mid- 
dle colonies and Carolina, but still more by a letter of 
thanks from the Provincial Synod of Glasgow to the 
Rev. Dr. Mather in New England, dated i/oorf 

" Seeing you and we are so much united together not only by the 
common bonds of Christianity and Protestantism, but also by 
the nearest agreement in the purity and gospel simplicity of divine 
worship and in the exercise of strict discipline unto morality of 
life, we think, it may be very needful (especially at this juncture 
when popish zeal doth so readily exert itself in many sad in- 
stances and when all our common enemies are lying at the catch) 
that Christian communion be mutually maintained by ourselves 
and express prayer for one another, by brotherly correspondence 
and communicating acquaintance by mutual advice, assistance 
and sympathy, that thereby we may strengthen one anothers 
hands in the work of the Lord and contribute in our several ca- 



* He graduated from the University of Edinburgh, June 25, 1697. (See Hugh 
Scott, Fasti, Eccl. Scot.^ I., P- 400.) 

fit is in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, in the Wodrovir MSS., Jac. V., 
2 9 f . xxxix. 

9 



130 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

pacities toward the advancement of our blessed Redeemer. For 
ourselves we heartily wish that an intercourse may be established 
between the ministers of New England and us in Scotland, and 
we the ministers and elders of the Provincial Synod of Glasgow 
met together, do earnestly recommend it unto you, very rever- 
end and dear Brother (whose eminent services in the gospel have 
rendered your name deservedly precious and savorie unto us all) 
to impart our desire unto your Reverend brethren." 

The object of the letter was to thank Mather for the 
help he had given to the ministers of the Presbytery of 
Caledonia in their distress, and it shows the brotherly 
sympathy of Scotland and New England. It was this 
spirit that made the combination of English and Scotch 
Presbyterians possible and actual in the colonies of 
America. 

Thus, at the close of the seventeenth century, there 
were at the basis of American Presbyterianism a large 
number of Presbyterian Puritan churches in New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and 
South Carolina. There were three Irish Presbyterian 
ministers — Francis Makemie and Josias Makie in Vir- 
ginia, Samuel Davis in Delaware ; and one Scotch Presby- 
terian in South Carolina, Archibald Stobo. Besides these 
several Scotch Presbyterians had settled in New England 
Congregational churches. James Brown and James 
Keith, two of the Scottish ministers ejected in 1662, 
went to New England. James Brown settled at Swan- 
sey, Mass., but returned after the British Revolution, 
and became pastor in Glasgow, Scotland."^ James Keith 
settled at Bridgewater, Mass., in 1664, and remained until 
his death in i/iQ.f James Frazer was also supply at 

* He was admitted to the Presbytery of Glasgow May 29, 1688 ; was promoted 
to the High Church June 10, 1691. He died April 30, 1714. (See Hugh Scott, 
Fasti. HI., 16.) He subsequently was a correspondent of the Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia and exerted himself on behalf of the infant Church in America. (See 
p. 168.) 

t Alex. Blaikie, History 0/ Presbyterianism in New England^ Boston, 1881, 
p. 27. 



THE RISE OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN AMERICA. 131 

Woodbury, Conn., from 1686-88, when he returned to 
Scotland and settled at Alness.* 

These ministers and churches were in entire sympathy. 
Some of them had congregational Presbyteries, others 
had but a single ruling elder ; still others had but their 
pastor, who exercised the functions of an entire Presby- 
tery ; some had no elders at all, but depended upon oc- 
casional supplies. They were unable, from the circum- 
stances in which they were placed, to be more than 
feeble germinal Presbyterian churches. They did not 
see their way to the organization of Classical Presbyte- 
ries. The dominant influence at the close of the seven- 
teenth century in the Middle colonies and in South 
Carolina in the Presbyterian Church was Puritan and 
English — but the Scotch and Irish and Welsh were 
everywhere welcomed into Christian fellowship and com- 
munion. The English Puritan churches were glad to 
settle Scotch and Irish pastors over them, and there was 
no friction. 

^The American Presbyterian Church began historically 
at the bottom, and only by degrees did it rise into the 
magnificent system which we now behold. It was not a 
reconstruction of an old Papal system into a new Pres- 
byterian system, as in Scotland. It was a free and nat- 
ural growth in accordance with the preferences of the 
congregations themselves. American Presbyterianism 
was born and nurtured and reached its maturity in free- 
dom. It developed naturally in accordance with the cir- 
cumstances of the country. It was not imposed upon 
the people by civil or ecclesiastical tribunals.f 

*See p. 122. 

t From what we have shown in this chapter it is clear that Dr. Charles Hodge 
is entirely mistaken when he says : " The strict Presbyterian emigrants, Scotch, 
Irish, Dutch and French, laid the foundations of our church in New York, East 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas." {Constitutioital 
History^ I., p. 59.) 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA, 1706-1716. 

Immediately after the revolution in 1688, when the 
Puritans threw off the yoke of James II. and gave the 
throne of Great Britain to William and Mary, religious 
life began to manifest itself in increased energy and ac- 
tivity in all the denominations. The ancient efforts for 
union and co-operation among the Puritans were revived. 
In 1690 ^^ Heads of Agreement assented to by the united 
ministers in and about London, formerly called Presby- 
terian and Congregational^' were adopted and signed by 
more than eighty ministers. Increase Mather, the New 
England divine, was in London at the time, and he ex- 
erted himself strongly in their behalf. Richard Baxter 
was too ill to be present, but he sent a congratula- 
tory letter. This union was a grand rally of the Lon- 
don churches. It was responded to by corresponding 
unions all over England, and also in and about Dublin, 
Ireland.* 

I.— THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 

July I, 1690, a General Fund was established by the 
two denominations, Presbyterian and Congregational, to 
aid in training ministers, in supplying feeble congrega- 
tions, and in extending the Puritan faith.f 



* There is in Dr. Williams' Library, London, the Minutes of the United Breth- 
ren of the city and county of Exon, and county of Devon, from 1690 to September 
4, 1717. In the Cheetam Library, Manchester, there are Minutes of the United 
Brethren of the county of Lancaster from April 3, 1693, to August 13, 1700. 

t See Appendix XIV. for an account of this Fund. 
Il32) 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. I33 

These Heads of Agreement were subsequently adopted 
at Saybrook, Conn., in 1708, and inserted with the Savoy 
Confession in the Saybrook platform, and the system of 
Consociations was established. The Massachusetts min- 
isters also formed Associations with standing Councils 
in 1705. It was designed to rally the Presbyterian and 
Congregational churches of Great Britain and her colo- 
nies against Prelacy and Popery. 

The Presbyterians and Congregationalists of Dublin 
also combined in the Presbytery of Dublin. The Pres- 
byterians of Dublin were chiefly English Presbyterians. 
They revived the Association of 1658(9).* There were 
five churches in Dublin, and several in the South of Ire- 
land, as at Waterford and Enniscorthy. The ministers 
of Dublin also organized a Trust Fund. A preliminary 
movement was made as early as 1696, but the General 
Fund was not organized until May r, 1710. The object 
of this fund was the same as that of the London Fund, 
but with more particular reference to the South of Ire- 
land.f 

The Presbytery of Dublin maintained its independence 
of the Synod of Ulster, although some of the ministers 
were members of both bodies. The Presbyterians of the 
North of Ireland were from Scotland, as those of the 
South were from England. The northern Presbyterians 
were zealous for the Scotch Presbytery, but the southern 
were suspicious of its claims for jurisdiction. The Syn- 
od of Ulster was organized in 1690, after the return of 
the banished ministers from Scotland, and it entered 
upon a zealous prosecution of its work in the North of 
Ireland, if 



*See p. 78. + See Appendix XV. for an account of this Fund. 

X This mingling of the English and Scotch Presbyterians in Ireland has been 
too much neglected by Irish Church historians, who have written from the point 
of view of the Synod of Ulster. Francis Makemie correctly represents the situ- 



134 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

If the London Union could have been preserved, it 
would have proved of incalculable service to the Church 
of Christ ; but unfortunately it became the centre of 
strife. If Increase Mather could have influenced his 
brother Nathaniel to be reasonable, this might have 
been prevented. The Congregationalists thus presented 
their case :^ 

" The Congregational brethren were offended at several man- 
agements in the Union, but never deserted it till that happened 
which forced them at last to leave it. It was this : Mr. Daniel 
Williams published a book against Doctor Crisp's opinions, and 
with a confutation of the Doctor's opinions, he did interweave 
several notions of his own, which have been reckoned contrary 
to the received and approved doctrine of the Reformed Churches. 
To speak the least of the book, it goes as far from the doctrine 
of the first and best reformers as the new method or the Amyral- 
dian scheme does, if it does not take some steps farther." 

The conflict was thus opened between Crisp's Anti- 
nomianism, sustained by the Congregational brethren, 
and Daniel Williams' Amyraldianism, or Baxterianism 
or *' new method," supported by the Presbyterian breth- 
ren.f 



ation : "Harder things were soon contrived and imposed, to the casting out of 
many able and godly ministers, followed by multitudes of people ; and these 
being cast out, and kept out to this day, are Non-conformists and Dissenters^ 
and the most considerable part Presbyterians^ and those of Ireland are partly 
from England, partly from Scotland, who since the conquest joyned with others 
in settling that kingdom." (Makemie, Truths in a True Lights 1699, p. 8.) 

* History 0/ the Union between the Presbyterian and Congregational minis- 
ters in and about London ; a7id the causes of the breach of it, London, 1698, 
p. 9. 

t Daniel Williams was bom at Wrexham in 1643, and became a preacher at 
twenty years of age. He went to Ireland as chaplain to the Earl of Meath, and 
became pastor of the Presb>i;erian congregation in Drogheda. In 1667 he began 
his pastorate of Wood Street, Dublin, where he remained twenty years. He 
left Ireland in 1687 and settled in London. He was an intimate friend of Rich- 
ard Baxter, and succeeded him in the Pinner Hall lectureship. He was one of 
the most influential, benevolent, and useful ministers of his age. (See James 
Armstrong, Ordination Sei-moh, etc., Dublin, 1829, p. 69.) 



THE PEESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. 



135 



Six Congregational ministers complained of Dr. Will- 
iams' book to the Union. A long and bitter strife arose, 
lasting many years. The attitude of the broader Pres- 
byterian brethren is admirably presented in "A Pacifica- 
tory Paper": 

" For the composing whereof (some unhappy differences), as 
we formerly expressed our approbation of the doctrinal articles 
of the Church of England, or the Confession of Faith compiled 
by the Assembly at Westminster, or that at the Savoy, as agree- 
able to the Word of God ; unto that approbation we still adhere : 
declaring further that if any of us shall at any time hereafter be 
apprehended to have expressed himself disagreeing thereunto, we 
will with brotherly candour and kindness mutually endeavour to 
give and receive just satisfaction herein ; bearing with one an- 
other's infirmities and different sentiments about logical or philo- 
sophical terms, or merely htanane forms of speech, in matters of 
lesser weight, not thinking it reasonable or just to charge upon 
any brother such consequences of any expression or opinion of 
his which he himself shall disown." 

This admirable expression of the true spirit of West- 
minster Presbyterianism was signed by a Committee 
composed of William Bates, Samuel Slater, John Howe, 
Vincent Alsop, Richard Stretton, Daniel Burgess, and 
John Shower, March 25, 1696 — all men of fame and 
power. On the other side were Geo. Grifidth, Matthew 
Mead, Thomas Cole, Nathaniel Mather, Isaac Chauncy, 
and John James. The result of the controversy was the 
meeting of the two bodies in separate places and the es- 
tablishment of two separate funds.* Happily the con- 
troversy was chiefly confined to the vicinity of London ; 
and it did not destroy the unions in the other counties 
of England, or in Dublin, or in America. 



* See Appendix XIV. 



136 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 



II.— THE EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. 

The Church of England also roused herself to greater 
efforts and began to look after her Interests in the 
American colonies. The Governors of the colonies, the 
military officers, and chaplains were zealous for episco- 
pacy. The movement began in Maryland. It is thus 
described by Ernest Hawkins : 

"In 1691 and 1692 the Gov. and Assembly of Maryland divided 
the province into parishes, established a legal maintenance for 
the respective ministers, and memorialized the Bishop of London 
to send over some experienced clergyman as an ecclesiastical 
commissary. The person selected for this honorable office was 
Dr. Bray, a man highly to be honoured, and to be had in lasting 
remembrance for his zealous and self-denying exertions in behalf 
of the Church, both at home and abroad." (Hawkins, Historical 
Notices, London, 1845, p. 15.) 

Dr. Bray was appointed in 1696. He devoted himself 
to his task with great zeal. He strove to establish a 
Protestant Congregation for the propagation of the faith. 
He failed for a time ; but in 1698, under his influence, 
the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge 
was founded, as a voluntary society, with the view of es- 
tablishing catechetical schools, and the promoting Chris- 
tian knowledge in the plantations, by the furnishing of 
Bibles, Prayer-Books, and religious treatises, and erect- 
ing parochial libraries.* Dr. Bray secured as missiona- 
ries, Thomas Clayton for Philadelphia, and Mr. Marshall 
for Charleston, South Carolina. He sailed in December, 
1699, and arrived in Maryland in March of the following 
year. 

Dr. Bray endeavored to secure information as to the 
precise religious condition of Maryland. He returned 
to England in 1700, at the request of the clergy of Mary- 

^ Account of the origin and designs of the Society for Promoting Christian 
Knowledge^ London, 1733. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. I37 

land, and presented a memorial with reference to " the 
present state of Religion on the Continent of North 
America." * In this memorial he says : 

" Nor do I think myself obliged to speak here of New England, 
where Independency seems to be the religion of the country. 
My design is not to intermeddle where Christianity under any 
form has obtained possession ; but to represent rather the de- 
plorable state of the English colonies, where they have been in a 
manner abandoned to Atheism ; or which is much at one, to 
Quakerism, for want of a clergy settled among them." 

He urges that " no less than 40 Protestant missionaries 
should be sent to the American colonies." He peti- 
tioned King William for his royal charter for the creat- 
ing a corporation by the name of the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The char- 
ter was granted, and is dated June 16, 1701. The So- 
ciety for Promoting Christian Knowledge largely passed 
over into the new corporation ; but it was thought best 
to continue the original voluntary society, and limit its 
work to its original design, so that each society should 
have its special field. f The archbishops and bishops 
and the leading clergy and nobility of England became 
corporate members of the '^ Society for the Propagation 
of the Gospell in Forreigne parts." 

The Society at once began an aggressive work in the 
colonies with all the influence of the British govern- 
ment, the colonial governors, and their military and 
civil officers, to sustain it. The most efficient agent of 
the Society was George Keith.:]: He was at first a zeal- 
ous Quaker. He went over to Philadelphia and became 



* It was printed London, 1700. 

t See Appendix XVI. for a further account of this Society, 
X He was bom at Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1638, graduated from the University 
of Aberdeen, abandoned the Church of Scotland, and was persecuted for advo- 
cating the principles of the Quakers, The smarts of these wounds made him a 
bitter enemy to Presbyterianism wherever he went. 



133 AMEKECAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

involved in a controversy with the Quakers there, and 
made a schism in their ranks. He came into conflict 
with Francis Makemie in 1692.* He was sustained in 
his schism by Bradford the printer, and many others. 
Keith finally went to England and was ordained by the 
Lord Bishop of London, and was sent out as the first 
missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts, April 24, 1702, with Patrick 
Gordon to assist him. He was joined on the vessel by 
John Talbot, a chaplain of the navy, who took the place 
of Gordon, after the latter's death. These travelled, in 
the interests of the Society, from New Hampshire to the 
Carolinas, for two years, from June 11, 1702, until June 
I, I704.t 

Under Keith's influence the Keithite Quakers in a 
body conformed to the Church of England, and they 
laid the foundations of the Episcopal Church in the 
Middle colonies. Keith also engaged in hot dispute 
with the Presbyterian and Congregational ministers, 
wherever he went. 

The activity of such agents as George Keith, supported 
as they were by the civil and military authorities of the 
colonies, severely pressed the Presbyterians of the Mid- 
dle colonies. The existence of Presbyterianism was put 
in jeopardy. 

Francis Makemie, who was familiar with the whole 
field, and knew the spirit and work of Keith from per- 
sonal experience of controversy with him, apprehended 
the serious state of affairs, and determined to appeal to 
the Presbyterian interest of London for support. The 
missionaries from London of the Episcopal Missionary 
Societies must be met by missionaries from London of 
the Presbyterian Missionary Societies. 

* See p. 117. 

+ Letters of S. P. G., I., 45, 50, 86, 125 ; II., 168 ; IV., 97. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. l^C) 

III. — THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PRESBYTERY OF 
PHILADELPHIA. 

Francis Makemie went to London in the summer of 
1704, and appealed to the London ministers for men, 
and funds to sustain them. The London ministers fur- 
nished support for two missionaries for two years."^ 
Makemie at once secured two young men, John Hamp- 
ton, an Irishman, and George McNish, a Scotchman.f 



* During his sojourn in London, Makemie published his '■^ Plain and friendly 
persuasive to the inhabitants of Virginia and Maryland for promoting towns 
and cohabitation. By a Well-wisher to both Governments, London, 1705." It 
is dedicated to His Excellency Major Edward Nott, Her majesty's governor of 
the ancient dominion of Virginia, by Francis Makemie. It was written in the 
interests of religion as well as of the material welfare of the colonies. " Towns and 
cohabitation would highly advance religion, which flourishes most in cohabita- 
tions ; for in remote and scattered settlements we can never enjoy so fully, fre- 
quently, and certainly, those privileges and opportunities as are to be had in all 
Christian towns and cities ; for by reason of bad weather, or other accidents, 
ministers are prevented, and people are hindered to attend, and so disappoint one 
another : But in towns, congregations are never wanting, and children and ser- 
vants never are without opportunity of hearing, who cannot travel many miles to 
hear, and be catechised," (p. 11). This tract of Makemie was to encourage a 
movement in which the Presbyterian colonists of Elizabeth River took a lively in- 
terest under the lead of Col. Anthony Lawson. 

+ John Hampton was probably the son of William Hampton of Burt, in the 
Presbytery of Laggan, Ireland, for that Presbytery on Sept. 27, 1692, resolved to 
give some help to Mr. John Hampton at the school ; and Oct. 30, 1694, they re- 
solved that " as soon as he shall go to college they will allow him ;^io per annum 
during the time of his stay there. As to the way of raising it, it is referred to 
the next meeting." (See the MS. Minutes of the Presbytery, in McGee College, 
Londonderry.) He is entered at the University of Glasgow, March 9, 1696, in 
the 3d class as Hibernus. (The register constantly distinguishes between Hi- 
bernus, Scoto-Hibernus, and Anglo-Hibernus.) There is another reference to 
him on the MS. minutes of the meeting at Antrim, June 7, 1700. " The meet- 
ing having read and considered Mr. Hampton's letter he sent to his father from 
London, orders that he be written to by Mr. Andrew Ferguson signifying 
that the meeting desires him to go down to Edinburgh that he may spend 
some time there with Mr. Campbel at the profession, if his circumstances and 
engagements to other places will allow it." In 1704 he engages to go with 
Makemie. George McNish is entered at the University of Glasgow in the 3d 
class, March i, 1698. The students from Scotland have no nationaUty given. 
There can be no doubt therefore that McNish was a Scotsman. 



14:0 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The three missionaries arrived in Maryland in 1705. 
In the spring of 1706 these three united with Jedediah 
Andrews, John Wilson, Nathaniel Taylor, and Samuel 
Davis, four ministers already at work in Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, and Maryland,"^ in the erection of the first 
American classical Presbytery. 

It was a happy union of British Presbyterianism in 
its several types. It was an interesting combination. 
Makemie, the Scotch-Irishman ; Hampton, the Irishman, 
and McNish, the Scotsman, sustained by funds provided 
by the Presbyterians of London ; uniting with Puritan 
missionaries from New England in organic union in a 
classical Presbytery, We have here in miniature the en- 
tire history of American Presbyterianism. It was a 
broad, generous, tolerant spirit which effected this union. 
The Presbytery was organized on the principle of elect- 
ive afifinity, and with regard to the circumstances and the 
convenience of its members. It did not claim jurisdic- 
tion beyond its own members. The majority of the 
Puritan ministers of New York and New Jersey remained 
apart for several years. Even the Irishman, Josias 
Makie, of Elizabeth River, did not unite with them. 
It was an organization for the meeting of ministers within 
convenient distance. It was not organized by a higher 
body. It did not seek authority from the General As- 
sembly of the Church of Scotland, or from the Synod of 
Ulster. It organized itself by a voluntary association of 
ministers. It seems to have taken the Presbytery of 
Dublin as a model. 

The record of the first meeting has been lost. The 
first recorded meeting was for the ordination of John 
Boyd,t at Freehold, Dec. 29, 1706, composed of three 

* See pp. 119, 121-127. 

t John Boyd is entered in the University of Glasgow as a student of the 4th 
class, March 11, 1701, without nationality. He was therefore Scotch. This is 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. 14| 

ministers only. Of the members of the first Presbytery, 
only three were pastors, the other four were missionaries. 
The Presbytery has been described by Makemie himself, 
in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Colman, of Boston, March 
28, 1707, as a ^^ meeting of minister s^ ^ 

This is Irish terminology. In 1654 the one Presby- 
tery in Ulster divided itself into three meetings, and 
subsequently into five : Down, Antrim, Route, Laggan, 
and Tyrone, and so continued until 1702. These were 
commissions of Presbytery rather than Presbyteries ; 
and yet they were loosely called Presbyteries even in 
their official minutes. Their powers were limited, and 
their acts had only temporary validity until approved by 
the one Presbytery, which was also loosely called a 
Synod.f 

For some time after the Restoration, the Presbyteries 
were not allowed to meet. The Presbyterian minis- 
ters were forced to leave Ulster in 1663 on account of 
the suspicions excited by the '* Blood plot." They be- 
gan to return in 1666. In 1669 the meetings or Presby- 
teries were again at work, composed of ministers only.;]: 
A General Commission was organized as an informal 
Synod in 1670. These meetings were compelled by cir- 
cumstances to act as Presbyteries defectively organized, 
to license, ordain, and install ministers. Rules for 
trial, ordination, and settlement of ministers were drawn 
up by the General Commission in 1672. These rules re- 
quire testimonials and examination, but not subscription.§ 
Under these rules, probably, Francis Makemie and John 



probably the same John Boyd, probationer, who was ordained Dec. 29, 1706, 
and died in 1708, before he settled as pastor. 

*See Appendix XIII. for this important letter. 

tReid, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, II., pp. 194, 222. 

X Reid, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, II., p. 292. 

§Reid, in /. r., II., pp. 314, 487, 490. 



142 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Hampton were licensed and ordained,^ if indeed they 
were not ordained in a still more irregular manner by a 
private gathering of ministers, such as the English Pres- 
byterians frequently used for this purpose. 

The first American classical Presbytery was such an 
Irish meeting of ministers, but without subordination to 
a higher body, resembling in this respect the Presbytery 
of Dubhn. It was very different from a Westminster 
classical Presbytery, or a Presbytery of the Kirk of Scot- 
land. 

The design of the American Presbytery is also stated 
by Makemie in the same letter : 

" Our design is to meet yearly, and oftener if necessary, to con- 
sult the most proper measures for advancing religion and propa- 
gating Christianity in our various stations, and to maintain such 
a correspondence as may conduce to the improvement of our 
ministerial abilities, by prescribing texts to be preached on by 
two of our number at every meeting, which performance is sub- 
ject to the censure of our brethren ; our subject is Paul's epistle 
to the Hebrews. I and another began and performed our parts 
on Verses i and 2. The 3rd is presented to Mr. Andrews and 
another." t 

This letter of Makemie enables us to fix the date of 
the first meeting of the Presbytery in the spring of 

1706. 



* We say probably, for the minutes of the Presbytery of Laggan, which begin 
Aug. 21, 1672, and amtinuo until July 13, 1681, give an interesting account of 
the examinations of Makemie (see Appendix XII.) ; but there is a gap from this 
date until Dec. 30, 1690, during the lime when Makemie must have been licensed 
and ordained. There are also inten^sting references to aid given to Hampton, 
(see p. 139), but no reference to his license and ordination. 

t This letter vv'as written soon after the adjournment of the Presbytery, which 
met at Philadelphia, March 22-26. The minutes of the meeting record this exer- 
cise : " Mr, Francis Makemie and Mr. John Wilson are appointed to preach upon 
Tuesday upon the subjects appointed them at the last Presbytery from Hebrev'S 
i. 1-2 by way of exercise and addition." This exercise was carried on until the 
organization of the Synod in 1717, when they had reached Hebrews ii. i. This 
also was an Irish custom. The records of the early Irish Presbyteries contain 
frequent references to it. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. 143 

The Presbytery of Philadelphia was chiefly a meeting 
of ministers for ministerial exercise, '' to consult the most 
proper measures for advancing religion and propagating 
Christianity." This was a noble design. A generous, 
catholic spirit animated the Fathers of the Presbytery. 
They organized an institution which was a rallying-point 
for Presbyterianism in the Middle States. It enabled 
them to license and ordain their own ministers in a regu- 
lar manner ; it enabled them to co-operate with the or- 
ganized forces of Puritanism and Presbyterianism in all 
parts of the world ; it was a master stroke of wise policy 
which now gave Presbyterianism an advantage over epis- 
copacy, in spite of the strong influences and active op- 
pression by the authorities in Church and State. 

The only effective barrier to an American Presbytery 
was an American Bishopric, which the Episcopal mis- 
sionaries were wise enough to discern, and which the 
Society and its friends were earnest enough to advocate ; 
but political considerations prevented for a long time the 
erection of American bishoprics. The whole body of 
Puritans and Presbyterians of New England and Great 
Britain were determined to resist the introduction of 
bishops into America. They feared lest these might use 
all the authority of the crown to destroy Puritanism and 
establish Prelacy. 

IV. — THE STRUGGLE OF PRESBYTERIANISM WITH EPIS- 
COPACY IN NEW YORK. 

Governor Fletcher, of the colony of New York, so 
soon as the Act of the Assembly of 1693 was passed, 
began to interpret it as an establishment of the Church 
of England in the colony ; and strove in every way to 
force his interpretation of the law upon the Puritan pop- 
ulation. This brought about a severe struggle between 



144 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Presbyterianism and Episcopacy, which continued for 
many years. 

" There can be no doubt that it was the intention of the As- 
sembly to provide for the maintenance of the Dissenting clergy. 
Such had been the manifest tendency of the previous legislation 
on the subject. All the Assembly but one were Dissenters and 
the Church of England was hardly known in the Province. 
' There was no face of the Church of England here till about the 
year 1693.' The Act was very loosely worded, which as things 
stood then when it was made, could not be avoided. The Dis- 
senters could claim the benefit of it as well as Churchmen, and 
unless wrested from its true bearing it admitted a construction 
in their favor. Indeed they had good reason to claim that it 
was indeed for them, and that they only had a right in it. In 
fact, it was arbitrarily and illegally wrested from its true bear- 
ing, and made to answer the purpose of the English Church 
party, which was a very small minority of the people who were 
affected by the operation of the law." (G. H. Moore, Hist. Mag., 
1867, p 328.) 

January 26, 1695(6), the Puritan vestrymen of New 
York City, elected by the people, chose William Vesey 
to be their minister. William Vesey was born in Brain- 
tree, Mass., 1674, graduated at Harvard 1693 ; he was 
trained by Increase Mather, and sent by him to strengthen 
the hands of the Puritans in New York. Vesey began 
preaching at Hempstead ; and, as so many of the pastors 
of Jamaica and Hempstead before him and after him, 
also ministered to the Puritans of the metropolis in 
the year 1694-5. He was thus the fourth Puritan min- 
ister known to have been connected with the city of 
New York. 

The Church of England men were now determined to 
take matters in their own hands without regard to the 
vestrymen. Accordingly ten principal men, led by Cols. 
Heathcote and Morris, March 19, 1695(6), petitioned 
Gov. Fletcher for leave to purchase ground and erect a 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. I45 

church. This was granted, and they were permitted to 
collect funds for the purpose, and received aid in every- 
way from the authorities. 

Col. Heathcote also made a bold and successful stroke 
of policy. He prevailed upon the Puritan minister to 
conform to the Church of England and to sail to Eng- 
land for orders. 

August 2, 1697, Vesey was ordained by the Lord 
Bishop of London, and returned to become the first 
rector of the Episcopal Church of the city, and its most 
zealous advocate against his former friends and associates. 
The conformity of Vesey to the Church of England was 
the most unfortunate event that could have happened 
to Presbyterian Puritanism in New York State. It gave 
the Episcopal Church the primacy in the city, which by 
right belonged to the Presbyterian Puritans. We have 
a Presbyterian view of it from a letter of James Ander- 
son, the first Presbyterian pastor, December 3, 17 17. He 
says : 

" After the English had it, endeavors were used by the chief of 
the people who understood English, toward the settlement of an 
English Dissenting minister in it, and accordingly one was called 
from New England, who, after he had preached some time here, 
having a prospect and promise of more money than what he had 
among the Dissenters, went to Old England, took orders from 
the Bishop of London, and came back here as a member of the 
Established Church of England. Here he yet is, and has done, 
and still is doing what he can to ruin the Dissenting interest in 
the place." (See Appendix XX.) 

The Rev. Alex. Campbell, a missionary of the Society 
for Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, who was 
severely, but, as we believe, justly dealt with by Vesey, 
says in bitterness : " He was a bigot for the N. E. Inde- 
pendency before he came over to the Church, and now a 
bigot for the Church against the Dissenters." '* In the 
10 



146 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

height of his zeal for non-conformity, the Hon. good- 
natured Col. Heathcote, admiring the greatness of his 
memory and the volubility of his speech, by the prospect 
of a much better settlement at New York than what he 
had at Hempstead, prevailed with him to go to England 
and receive orders."* In our judgment these were not 
the motives which influenced Vesey to conform to the 
Church of England. At this time there was a strong 
tendency on the part of the Presbyterian type of Puri- 
tans to conform in England, on account of the liberality 
of the leading bishops and their antagonism to the 
Jacobite High-Churchmen. There was the feeling 
among Presbyterian Puritans that the Episcopal form of 
government was preferable to the Congregational. The 
Low-Church Episcopalian and Low-Church Presbyterian 
of England were scarcely different. The leading Pres- 
byterians of England were willing to accept Archbishop 
Ussher's model, and a little reasonableness on the part of 
the English bishops would have swept the entire Pres- 
byterian party of England into the Established Church. 
One can readily understand that a man like Vesey, with 
such tendencies, could easily have been prevailed upon 
to see the advantages of combining the Presbyterian and 
Episcopal parties of the metropolis in one church organ- 
ization. 

We have another view of this event from an address of 
the friends of Gov. Hunter to the Lord Bishop of Lon- 
don (circa 1714) : 

" In the year 1697, Col. Fletcher, the Governor, by his example 
and countenance, promoted the building of Trinity Church in New 
York by voluntary contribution, and placed in it the present incum- 
bent, Mr. Vesey, who was at that time a dissenting preacher on 
Long Island. He had received his education in Harvard Col- 
lege under that rigid Independent, Increase Mather, and was 



* Proiesfation, N. Y., 1733. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. 147 

sent from thence by him to confirm the minds of those who had 
removed for their convenience from New England to this 
province, for Mr. Mather having advice that there was a minister 
of the Established Church of England come over in quality of 
chaplain of the forces, and fearing that the Common Prayer and 
the hated ceremonies of our church might gain ground, he spared 
no pains and care to spread the warmest of his emissaries through 
this province, but Col. Fletcher, who saw into this design, took off 
Mr. Vesey by an invitation to this Living, a promise to advance his 
stipend considerably, and to recommend him for holy orders to 
your Lordship's predecessor, all of which was performed accord- 
ingly, and Mr. Vesey returned from England in Priest's orders." 
{Doc. Hist. N. v., III., p. 438.) 

Whatever the motive of Vesey may have been, there 
can be no doubt that the mass of the English-speaking 
people of the metropolis were Presbyterian Puritans, 
and that he was called to be their pastor. The Church 
of England party consisted of a few new-comers in the 
army and civil government. Vesey betrayed the Pres- 
byterians who had chosen him as their leader. We are not 
surprised that his treachery was in part successful. The 
Presbyterian vestrymen were not allowed to call another 
minister. In addition to the civil vestrymen of the act 
of 1693, an ecclesiastical vestry, composed of members 
of the Church of England, and chosen by members of 
the Church of England, was constituted by authority of 
the Governor."^ The Presbyterians had nowhere else to 
worship in their own tongue, so that for several years 
many of them worshipped in Trinity Church. As the 
friends of Gov. Hunter say (1714), "We have yet no 
dissenting congregation in English in the town, which 
we fear makes ours larger than it would be if there was 

one."t 

The Puritans enjoyed a brief rest under the adminis- 

*Doc. Hist., N. Y. III., pp. 407 seq. 

}Doc. Hist., III., p. 444; C. W. Baird, Mag. Amer. Hist., 1879, p. 603. 



148 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

tration of the '^ kindlier" Earl of Bellamont, who arrived 
in 1696, but unfortunately he soon died, and was sue-" 
ceeded by the infamous Lord Cornbury, who '' joined 
the worst form of arrogance to intellectual imbecility."^ 
The able, genial, and shrewd Col. Heathcote settled at 
Scarsdale Manor in Westchester County in 1692. He 
became colonel of militia of the county, and the most 
efficient advocate of the Church of England. He did 
more for its establishment in the province of New York 
than any one else, or indeed than all others combined. 
Heathcote tells us something of his own methods in a 
letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 
April 10, 1704: 

" The people of Westchester, Eastchester, and a place called 
Lower Yonkers, agreed with one Warren Mather, and the people 
of Rye, with one Mr. W^oodbridge, both of New England, there 
being at that time scarce six in the whole county, who so much 
as inclined to the church. After Mather had been with them for 
some time, Westchester parish made choice of me for one of their 
church wardens, in hopes of using my interest with Col. Fletcher 
to have Mather inducted to the living. I told them it was alto- 
gether impossible for me to comply with their desires, it being 
wholly repugnant to the laws of England to compel the subject 
to pay for the maintenance of any minister who was not of the 
national church, and that it lay not in any Govs power to 
help them, but since they were so zealous for having religion and 
good order settled amongst 'em, I would propose a medium in 
that matter, which was, that there being at Boston, a French 
Protestant minister, Mr. Bondett, a very good man, who was in 
orders from my Lord of London, and could preach in English 
and French, and the people of New Rochelle being destitute of a 
minister, we would call Mr. Bondett to the living, and the parish 
being large enough to maintain two, we would likewise continue 
Mr. Mather, and support him by subscription. The vestiy 
seemed to be extreamly well pleased with this proposal, and de- 
sired me to send for Mr. Bondett, which I immediately did, hop- 



* Bancroft, Hist. U. S., II., p. 41. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. I49 

ing by that means to bring them over to the church, but Mather, 
apprehending what I aimed at, persuaded the vestry to alter their 
resolutions, and when he came they refused to call him, so that 
projection failing me, and finding that it was impossible to make 
any progress toward settling the church so long as Mather con- 
tinued amongst us, I made it my business in the next place to 
devise ways to gett him out of the country, which I was not long 
in contriving, which being effected and having gained some few 
proselytes in every town, and those who were of the best esteem 
amongst 'em, who having none to oppose them, and being as- 
sisted by Mr. Vesey and Mr. Bondett, who very often preached in 
S2veral parts of the country, baptizing the children, by easy 
methods the people were soon wrought into good opinion of the 
church, and indeed much beyond my expectations." 

Thus the artful Col. Heathcote knew how to get rid 
of the faithful Puritan minister, and to gain over the un- 
faithful Vesey and Bondett, in order to accomplish his 
design of transferring the Puritan population into the 
bosom of the Church of England. 

The first missionary, in New York, of the Society for 
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, was 
John Bartow, who was put in possession of the Puritan 
churches of Eastchester, Westchester, and Jamaica by 
the arbitrary power of Governor Cornbury. The Pres- 
byterian ministers, Joseph Morgan of Westchester and 
John Hubbard of Jamaica, were forced to retire from 
their church buildings and parsonages. A letter of Mr. 
Bartow to the Secretary from Westchester, N. Y., De- 
cember I, 1707, gives a graphic representation of the 
struggle from his own partisan point of view. He says : 

" After winter was over I lived at Col. Graham's, 6 miles from 
the church ; and all the summer preached twice every Sunday, 
sometimes at Westchester and sometimes at Jamaica on Long 
Island about 2 miles distant from Mr. Graham .... and once 
I met with great disturbance at Jamaica. Mr. Hobbart their 
Presbyterian minister, having bin for some time at Boston re- 
turned to Jamaica the Saturday night as I came to it ; and sent 



150 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

to me at my lodgings (being then in company with our chief 
justice Mr. Mumpesson and Mr. Carter her Maj^t comptroller) 
to know if I intended to preach on the morrow.^ I sent him 
answer I did intend it. The next morning the bell rung as usual 
but before the last time of ringing Mr. Hobbart was got into the 
church and had begun his service, of which notice was given 
me, whereupon I went into the church and walked straightway 
to the pew, expecting Mr. Hobbart would desist, being he knew 
I had orders from the Governor to officiate there ; but he per- 
sisted and I forebore to make any interruption. In the afternoon 
I prevented him ; beginning the service of the church of England 
before he came ; who was so surprised when after he came to 
the church desk and saw me performing divine service, that he 
suddenly started back and went aside to an orchard hard by ; 
and sent in some to give the word that Mr. Hobbart would preach 
under a tree ; when 1 perceived a whispering thro the church 
and an uneasiness of many people, some going out, some seemed 
amazed not yet determined to go or stay. In the meantime 
some that were gone out returned again for their seats, and then 
we had a shameful disturbance, bawling and jugging of seats ; 
shoving one the other off, carrying them out and returning again 
for more so that I was fain to leave off till the disturbance was 
over and a separation made by which I lost about half of the 
congregation, the rest remaining devout and attentive the whole 
time of service, after which we lockt the church door and com- 
mitted the key unto the hands of the sheriff. We were no sooner 
got into an adjoyning house but some persons came to demand 
the key of their meeting house, which being denyed they went 
and broke the glass window and put a boy in, to open the door, 
and put in their seats and took away the pew cushion, saying 
they would keep that honour for their own minister ; the scold- 
ing and wrangling that ensued are by me ineffable. The next 
time, I saw my Lord Cornbury he thanked me, and said he would 
do the church and me justice, accordingly he summoned Mr. 
Hobbart and the head of the faction before him, and forbade 
Mr. Hobbart ever more to preach in that church for in regard it 
was built by a publick tax it did appertain to the established 
church, which it has quietly remained ever since and now in 
possession of our reverend brother Mr. Urquhart. My Lord 
Cornbury threatned them all with the penalty of the statute for 
disturbing divine service but upon their submission and promise 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. I5I 

of future quietness and peace he pardoned the offense. Not 
long after this, my Lord requested me to go and preach at East 
Chester, accordingly I went (tho some there had given out 
threatning words should I dare to come) but tho I was 
there very early and the people had notice of my coming, the 
Presbyterian minister, Mr. Morgan had begun service in the 
meeting house, to which I went straitway and continued the 
whole time of service, without interruption, and in the afternoon 
I was permitted to perform the church of England service, Mr. 
Morgan being present and neither he nor the people seemed to 
be dissatisfied, and after some time of preaching there after- 
wards, they desired me to come oftener, and I concluded to min- 
ister there once a month, which now I have done for about three 
years, and Mr. Morgan is retired into New England." 

Col. Heathcote represents that Joseph Morgan was 
ready to conform. But in this case he was hasty in 
judgment. Morgan was of tougher fibre than Vesey. 
He resisted all the influence brought to bear upon him, 
and remained faithful.* Mr. Hubbard continued the 
struggle at Jamaica for several years, preaching in barns 
and private houses.f The church at Rye was taken 
possession of by the Episcopal missionary Thomas 
Pritchard, and afterwards by Mr. Muirson ; and John 



* He was one of the earliest g^raduates of Yale College ; was ordained by the 
ministers of Fairfield county, Conn. ; became pastor of the church at Green- 
wich. Mather {Magnalia, I., p. 88) places him at Greenwich in 1696. He sup- 
plied aU of the churches of Westchester county, except Rye. The church at Bed- 
ford called him December 26, 1699, and he remained there for a few months 
(Baird, History 0/ Bedford Churchy N. Y., 1882, p. 32). He removed to Free- 
hold, N. J., in 1708, and labored for many years as a Presbyterian minister in 
connection with the Synod of Philadelphia, Morgan was an active, energetic 
minister, and at the same time gentle and tolerant. He cared more for the ex- 
tension of Christ's kingdom than for *' orders," whether derived from the Lord 
Bishop of London, or the Presbytery of Philadelphia, or the Fairfield ministers. 
In his old age he wrote a letter to the Secretary of the S, P. G,, which will be 
found in Appendix XVIL 

t It was not until the year 1727, after many years of strife and litigation, that 
the Presbyterians of Jamaica gained possession of their church building and 
other property which had been illegally and violently taken from them. It was 
at last restored by court of law. 



152 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Jones, Puritan pastor of Bedford, was forced to retire to 
Connecticut after arrest and reprimand before the Coun- 
cil.'-^ It was also proposed to take possession of the Puri- 
tan cliurches of Suffolk county, but they were too distant 
from head-quarters and too strong to be overcome.f 

The Dutch Reformed churches were too firmly rooted 
to be disturbed, and they used the Dutch language in 
worship ; it was bad policy to disturb them. How- 
ever, Henry Beyse, of West Farms, was induced by Col. 
Morris to conform to the Church of England and accept 
Episcopal ordination, in 17094 

The weaker French Reformed churches were the espe- 
cial objects of attack. The earnest catechist, Elias Neau, 
an elder in the French church in New York City, who had 
been employed by the Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in mission-work am.ong the 
negroes, was pressed to abandon his eldership and con- 
form. This he did in 1704, after the death of his pastor; 
and he united with Trinity Church. § 

After the adjournment of the Presbytery of Philadel- 
phia, October 27, 1706, Francis Makemie took with him 
John Hampton and set out on a journey to Boston, 
probably to consult with the Boston ministers. They 
stopped at New York on their way. They were invited 
by the Puritans of the city to preach for them. The 
consistory of the Dutch Church, in accordance with 
their generous custom, offered their church edifice for 
the purpose. But their kindness was frustrated by the 
refusal of Governor Cornbury to permit it. Makemie, 



* C. W. Baird, History of Bedford Church, 1882, pp. 36 seq. 

t See Appendix XVIII. for some documents illustrating the situation in the 
colony of New York at this time. 

X Bolton, II., p. 319. 

§ Letter of Elias Neau to the Secretary of the S. P. 6"., November 6, 1704. 
Letter-Book S. P. G. (See also p. 155.) 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. I53 

therefore, preached January 20, 1706(7), in the private 
house of William Jackson, on Pearl Street."^ William 
Jackson had been chosen vestryman for several years ; 
he had taken part in calling Slade and Vesey as Puri- 
tans ; he and the other Puritans of the metropolis were 
only waiting for an opportunity to secure a Puritan min- 
ister. On the same day, Hampton preached at Newtown 
on Long Island. On the following Tuesday, Makemie, 
with Hampton, went to Newtown to preach on the next 
day, according to appointment ; but they were there 
arrested on a warrant from Governor Cornbury, on the 
ground that they had preached without his permission. 
They were detained until March ist, when they were 
brought before the Supreme Court on the writ of habeas 
corpus. 

The charge against Hampton was not pressed, but 
Makemie was released on bail to appear for trial June 3d. 
He immediately returned to Philadelphia with Hampton 
for the meeting of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, March 
22, 1707. From thence he writes to Benjamin Colman, 
of Boston : 

" Since our imprisonment we have commenced a correspond- 
ence with our Rev. Breth. of the ministry at Boston, which we 
hope according to our intention has been communicated to you 
all, whose sympathizing concurrence I cannot doubt of, in an ex- 
pensive struggle, for asserting our liberty against the powerful 
invasion of Lord Cornbury, which is not yet over. I need not 
tell you of a pick"^ Jury, and the Penal laws, are invading our 
American sanctuary, without the least regard to the toleration, 
which should justly alarm us all." (See Appendix XIV.) 

The New England ministers immediately wrote to Sir 



*This sermon was printed under the title : A Good Conversation. A Sermon 
preached at the city of New York January 19'^ 1706, 7. By Francis Makemie, 
Minister of the Gospel of Christ. Boston 1707. It was reprinted in the Collec- 
tions of the New York Historical Society, III., 1870, p. 411. 



154 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

Henry Ashurst, Sir Edmund Harrison, and other Lon- 
don agents, April i, 1707 : 

" Except speedy relief be obtained, the issue will be, not only a 
vast oppression on a very worthy servant of God, but also a con- 
fusion upon the whole body of Dissenters in these colonies, where 
they are languishing under my Lord Cornbury's arbitrary and un- 
accountable government. We do therefore earnestly solicit you, 
that you would humbly petition the Queens majesty on this oc- 
casion, and represent the sufferings of the Dissenters in those 
parts of America which are carried on in so direct violation of 
her majesty's commands, of the laws of the nation, and the com- 
mon rights of Englishmen." (Hutchinson, History of the Prov- 
ince of Massachusetts Bay, 2d edition, London, 1768, IL, p. 125.) 

Makemie returned to New York, and sustained his 
trial. He was defended by three of the ablest lawyers 
in the Province — James Reigniere, David Jameson, and 
William NichoU ; and was acquitted on the ground that 
he had complied with the Toleration Act, and had acted 
within his rights as a Puritan minister. He produced 
his license to preach under the Toleration Act in Barba- 
does, and this was recognized as valid throughout the 
Queen's dominions. The claim of Cornbury, that it was 
necessary that he should have a special license from the 
Governor of New York, was simply ridiculous. But not- 
withstanding his acquittal, Makemie was obliged to pay 
the costs of the prosecution as well as the defence, 
amounting to the large sum of ^^"83 'js. 6d.^ This trial, 
followed by the bitter pursuit of the acquitted man on 
the part of the wrathful Governor, was the culmination 



* A Narrative of a New and Unusual American Imprisonment of Two 
Presbyterian Ministers ; And Prosecution of Mr. Fra7icis Makemie^ one of 
them, for preaching one sermoii at the city of New Vo7'h. By a Learner of 
Law, and Lover of Liberty, 1707. This edition was reprinted by Peter Force, 
Tracts, Washington, 1846, Vol. IV. Another edition was printed N. Y,, 1755. 
This was repubhshed by William Hill in the Appendix to A History of the Rise 
^Progress, Genius, and Character of American Presbyte?-ianism, Washington 
City, 1839. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. ^55 

of a series of tyrannical acts which aroused the entire 
Puritan body of the colonies and of Great Britain to ac- 
tion. The arbitrary acts of Gov. Cornbury were inde- 
fensible. He had exceeded his prerogative, transgressed 
the provisions of the Toleration Act, and violated the 
liberties of the Dissenters, and indeed twisted and per- 
verted the royal instructions to himself. He even inter- 
meddled with the missionaries of the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and gained 
the hostility of all the better elements in the Church of 
England. The New York Assembly, in April, 1707, re- 
monstrated against his actions ; charged him with bribery, 
with encroachment on the liberties of the people ; and 
finally expressed their determination to redress the mis- 
eries of their country.'^ He was recalled, and in 1709 
Lord Lovelace took his place. 

In the summer of this year the Huguenot church at 
New Rochelle, Westchester Co., was brought to confor- 
mity to the Church of England through the efforts of the 
pastor, Mr. Bondet, and Col. Heathcote. June 13th, the 
services of the Church of England were read for the first 
time, and Mr. Sharp, the chaplain of the British forces, 
preached. Col. Heathcote then proposed to the congre- 
gation that they conform to the liturgy of the Church of 
England, which " all who were present (the chief princi- 
pal inhabitants) " did. Col. Heathcote writes that Mr. 
Bondet '* may be a great means to influence the French 
congregation in New York, likewise to conform." f But 
it is evident that the majority of the congregation re- 
fused to follow the pastor and the " chief principal in- 
habitants" in conformity. They organized another con- 
gregation and continued to worship after their own 
customs. 



* Bancroft, History United States, II., p. 42. 

+ Letters of Mr. Bartow and Col. Heathcote, June, 1709, Letter Book, S. P. G. 



I^Q AMERICAN PRESBYTEEIAXISM. 

In 1 7 10 Robert Hunter, "the ablest in the series of 
the royal governors of New York, a man of good temper 
and discernment," ^ became governor. Under his ad- 
ministration the tyranny ceased, and the struggle of 
Presbyterianism and Episcopacy in New York was left 
to its natural development. 

In 1 710 Makemie's friend, Geo. McNish, the Scots- 
man, w^ent to Jamaica, and at once assumed the leader- 
ship of the Puritans in the Province of New York. He 
was called in a regular w^ay, in accordance with the Act 
of 1693, by the church-wardens and Vestry of Jamaica. 
He was a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and 
the Jamaica church now became a part of the Presby- 
tery. Mr. Poyer (missionary of the S. P. G.) was given 
possession of the church property by the authority of 
Gov. Hunter. But McNish carried on the battle with 
great ability. Gov. Hunter declined to put Poyer in 
possession of the parsonage. He and the chief-justice 
Mompesson, held " that it would be a high crime and a 
misdemeanor" to do this save by due course of law. 
His moderation displeased Poyer, Vesey, Bartow, and 
Thomas, who had become accustomed to the arbitrary 
measures of Cornbury, and they complained to the Bishop 
of London ; but the laymen. Col. Heathcote and Col. 
Morris, and the good chaplain, Sharp, sustained the 
Governor, and placed themselves on the side of justice 
and right. Col. Morris, in his letter of February 20, 
171 1, comparing the strength of Puritans and Church- 
men, says : 

" There is no comparison in our numbers ; and they can, on 
the death of the Incumbent, call persons of their own persuasion 

in every place but the city of New York I believe at this 

day the church had been in much better condition, had there 
been no act in her favour ; for in the Jersies and Pennsylvania, 



* Bancroft, Hi'sf. U. J., II., p. ^4. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. ^57 

where there is no act in her favour, there are four times the 
number of churchmen that there are in the Province of New 
York, and they are so most of them upon principle. Whereas 
nine parts in ten of ours will add no credit to whatever church 
they are of." 

Col. Heathcote says in his letter February 11, 1711 : 

" Many of the instruments made use of to settle the church at 
Jamaica, in its infancy, were of such warm tempers, and, if report 
is true, so indifferent in their morals, that, from the first begin- 
ning, I never expected it would be settled with much peace or 
reputation." 

McNish became a tower of strength, about which the 
Puritans of the Province of New York rallied. The case 
of the Jamaica church became a matter of interest to 
the Puritans of New England and Old England; and 
they united their efforts in its behalf. The Rev. Thomas 
Reynolds, of London, writes to Cotton Mather, June 9, 

1715: 

" I must now acquaint you that Mr. McNish has not been for- 
gotten by me, who have upon all occasions endeavoured, to solicit 
the concern of the foreign plantations, and have stirred up my 
brethren to counteract the designs of the missionaries. Endeav- 
ours have been used and much time spent for this purpose. I 
am sorry to say it has not been with that success as has been 
wished. I formerly gave you an account of this affair. And I 
must now with sorrow of heart tell that the society are not with- 
out hopes of gaining bishops to be sent unto his majesty's plan- 
tations. 

" We are attempting afresh to represent the case to the Society. 
I am directed to write to you and acquaint you that we think it 
would be of service to have some person or persons sent over on 
purpose to represent to the Govt, the state of affairs with respect 
to the missionaries. I desire you will please acquaint Mr. McNish 
and that you will take this matter into your consideration. If 
Mr. McNish or any other can send any thing that may afford 
matter of further remonstrance to the Society, we pray he will 
do it with all expedition, and with authentic testimonials." 
{Mather MSS., Amer. Antiqiiariafi Society^ 



X58 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

McNish contemplated going to London himself, but 
the growth of the church on Long Island, and the in- 
terests of Presbyterianism in New York detained him. 
With the accession of the House of Hanover in 1714, 
persecution of Puritans in America ceased. 

V. — THE GROWTH OF THE PRESBYTERY. 

The Presbytery only gradually learned to improve its 
internal organization, to exercise discipline, and to take 
episcopal oversight over its churches. The ministers 
constituting it were of many lands and types ; they 
could agree only in a loosely organized body. It was 
composed of ministers, some of whom were pastors, 
some missionaries ; some entirely devoted to the work of 
the ministry, and others, as Francis Makemie and Sam- 
uel Davis, supporting themselves in business pursuits. 

It seems to have been the custom for a while that 
elders or lay commissioners from the churches (we can- 
not be sure in all cases which they were), were admitted 
to Presbytery only as companions of ministers. In 1716 
an elder was for the first time allowed to sit in the ab- 
sence of his minister.^ In 1714 it was, for the first, or- 
dered that sessional records be kept, to be revised by 
the Presbytery ; but some of the churches declined to 
do this, and persisted in their course until the opening 
of the present century.f Some of the churches con- 
tinued without a bench of elders for a considerable time. 
The Presbytery was also incapable of strong discipline ; 



*Sept. 18, 1716, "Mr. Edmundson being present as a representative of the 
congregation of Patuxent, and their minister absent, it was put to vote, whether 
the said Mr. Edmundson should act as a representative notwithstanding the minis- 
ters absence, and carried in the affirmative netnine cofttradicente.^^ {Records of 
the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Philadelphia, 1841, 
p. 42.) 

t Records, p. 37. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. ^59 

and when their ministers retired to distant parts, they 
were simply stricken from the roll.* 

The Presbytery attracted the attention of the Puritan 
churches in New Jersey. The first of these to attach 
themselves to the Presbytery was Freehold. The first 
ordination of the Presbytery was at this place.f The 
second church which applied to it was Cohanzy. Thomas 
Bridge, the first pastor, had retired to Boston. In May, 
1708, Joseph Smith, a probationer from New England, 
was received by the Presbytery, and a committee ap- 
pointed to ordain him and install him at Cohanzy.;}: 

At the same meeting of Presbytery the church at 
Woodbridge appealed to the Presbytery to help them 
in their differences with their pastor, Mr. Wade. Na- 
thaniel Wade had been ordained in Connecticut. He 
was sent to Woodbridge by the Connecticut ministers, 
and a church was gathered there Jan. 29, 1707(8). But 
the people were displeased with their pastor. 

The Presbytery accordingly wrote to the Connecticut 
ministers. May 24, 1708 : 

" We, the ministers of the Gospel of the Presbyterian persua- 
sion in this province and those adjacent .... formed ourselves 
into a Presbytery, annually to be convened for the furthering and 
promoting of the true interests of religion and godliness. In 
which our undertaking, as we would not have anything should 
be advanced that may be justly disgustful to any pious soul, but 
on the contrary, so it is our universal desire to walk in the near- 



•^ Paulus Van Vleck, a Dutch Reformed minister, was received into the Pres- 
bytery in 1710, but it was soon learned that he was a bigamist. '* Drunkenness, 
swearing, and light carriage were fastened on him." There was a committee on 
his case until he ran away in 1715, when his name was dropped from the roll. 
He had been suspended, but the Presbyteiy did not proceed to trial and excom- 
munication. 

t See p. 140. 

J Joseph Smith was bom at Hadley, Mass., in 1674, graduated from Harvard 
in 1695, settled at Brookfield, Mass., as licentiate, and came from thence to Co- 
hanzy through the influence of his classmate, Jedediah Andrews. 



IQO , AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

est union and fellowship with the churches in those parts where 
you inhabit, not knowing any difference in opinion so weighty as 
to inhibit such a proposal, not doubting of your cordial assent 
thereto." {Records, p. 13.) 

The result of the correspondence was that Wade be- 
came a member of the Presbytery in 17 10. But the dif- 
ficulties were not removed. A considerable number of 
the people went over to the Church of England, and these 
in 171 1 requested Mr. Vaughan, the Episcopal mission- 
ary at Elizabethtown, to help them, and they placed 
a house at his disposal. Accordingly monthly services 
of the Church of England were speedily established, and 
a church was built there. Thus the Puritan flock was 
enfeebled, and it remained destitute of a pastor for some 
years, notwithstanding the joint efforts of the Presby- 
tery and Cotton Mather to give them an acceptable 
pastor. 

In 1709, Joseph Morgan* removed to Freehold and 
settled there. He was received into the Presbytery in 
September, 171 o. The churches at Elizabethtown and 
Newark remained apart. They both about this time se- 
cured new pastors. Sept. 29, 1709, Jonathan Dickinsonf 
was ordained at Elizabethtown, and in the autumn of 
1 7 10 Nathaniel Bowers was installed pastor at Newark. 

The Presbytery in 1710 took under their care David 
Evans, a Welshman, as a candidate for the ministry. 
After guiding his education for several years, they finally 
in 1714 ordained him and installed him over a church in 
the Welsh tract near Philadelphia. He was the first 
and the only student for the ministry under the care of 
the Presbytery, until the organization of the Synod. 
This was the feeble beginning of all the theological edu- 
cation of the American Presbyterian Church. 



*See p. 151. 

t He was bom at Hatfield, Mass., and he graduated at Yale College in 1706. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. , IQl 

In 171 5, Samuel Pumroy, of Newtown, Long Island, 
was received into the Presbytery, the first of a large 
number of Puritan ministers who would ere long em- 
brace the entire Puritan strength of New York and New 
Jersey in the American Presbyterian Church.* 

VI. — THE PRESBYTERY AIDED FROM GREAT BRITAIN. 

The organization of the Presbytery of Philadelphia 
enabled the Puritan ministers and churches of the Mid- 
dle colonies to act in concert, and to combine their ener- 
gies for the erection of new churches and supplying them 
with ministers. But the Presbytery was too feeble to 
do all this work of itself. It was dependent upon the 
New England colleges for ministers. But it soon be- 
came evident that a sufificient supply could not be ob- 
tained from this source. Therefore it became the chief 
business of the Presbytery to secure aid in ministers and 
in funds from Great Britain, and to direct this aid into 
its appropriate channels. The Presbytery of Philadel- 
phia was essentially a missionary Presbytery. Francis 
Makemie, by order of Presbytery, wrote a letter March 
26, 1708, to Alexander Coldin, minister of Oxam, Pres- 
bytery of Jedburgh, Scotland, to signify the desire of 
the people about Lewistown that he should come over 
and be their minister.f In 1709 a letter was written to 
Sir Edmund Harrison, of London, a Presbyterian layman 



* Pumroy was bom at Northampton, Mass., Sept. i6, 1687, graduated at Yale 
College in 1705 ; was ordained at Northampton Nov. 30, 1705, and settled at 
Newtown. 

t Alexander Coldin was minister at Ennir.corthy, in the South of Ireland, of 
Dublin Presbytery. He was reported to the General Assembly of Scotland as 
one of those obliged to leave Ireland in ]\Iarch, 16S9, He was a graduate of the 
University of Edinburgh in 1675. He was admitted to the Presbytery of Jed- 
burgh August 7, i6go, was transferred to Dunse in 1693, and from Dunse to 
Oxam in 1700, where he remained until his death in 1738. (Hugh Scott, Fasti., 
I., pp. 408 and 511.) 
11 



1^2 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM:. 

of well-known benevolence and extensive influence.* It 
was to accompany a letter of Cotton Mather and the Bos- 
ton ministers, who interceded with the London ministers 
to help the infant Presbytery. The letter calls attention 
to the aid given to Makemie in sending Hampton and 
McNish and supporting them for two years. It also 
refers to the original plan of sending two additional 
itinerants every two years. This had been neglected. 
The letter urged the revival of the plan : 

" Unto whom can we apply ourselves more fitly than unto our 
fathers, who have been extolled in the Reformed churches for 
their large bounty and benevolence in their necessities ? We 
doubt not, but if the sum of about 200 pounds per annum, were 
raised for the encouragement of ministers in these parts, it would 
enable ministers and people to erect eight congregations, and 
ourselves put in better circumstances than hitherto we have 
been. We are at present seven ministers, most of whose outward 
affairs are so straitened as to crave relief, unto which if two or 
three more were added, it would greatly strengthen our interest, 
which does miserably suffer, as things at present are among us. 
Sir, if we shall be supplied with ministers from you, w^hich we 
earnestly desire ; with your benevolence to the value abovesaid, 
you may rest assured of our fidelity and Christian care in distrib- 
uting it to the best ends and purposes we can, so as we hope we 
shall be able to give a just and fair account of every part of it to 
yourself and others by our letters to you. It is well known what 
advantages the missionaries from England have of us, from the 
settled fund of their Church, which not only liberally supports 
them here, but encourages so many insolences both against our 
persons and interests, which sorrowfully looking on we cannot 
but lament and crave your remedy." {Records, p. 16.) 

Indeed the London ministers had not forgotten the 
plan. Their attention had been called to another colony, 
that of South Carolina, where Puritanism was in sharp 



* He was one of the inanag;ers of the Presbyterian Fund from 1694-97 ; and 
was also a member of tlie Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New 
England. See p. 154. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. IQ^ 

conflict with Episcopacy. Archibald Stobo, the Scots- 
man, continued to be pastor of the Presbyterian church 
in Charleston until 1707.* There was but one other 
Presbyterian minister in the colony at that date, Joseph 
Lord, of Dorchester.f Stobo was a very zealous Scots- 
man, and in 1706 pressed his people to sign a covenant, 
which made him somewhat unpopular. The Presbyte- 
rian ministers of London were appealed to for more 
ministers for South Carolina. William Pollock and 
William Livingston came to London and received aid 
from the Presbyterian Fund, and went to Carolina in 
1706.:): When Livingston arrived he became pastor of 
the church at Charleston, and Stobo removed to Will- 
town, in Carleton county. The Presbyterian force v/as 
thus increased to four : three Scotsmen and one New 
England man. The chief places of Presbyterianism at 
this time were Charleston and James Island. In 1708 
one-half of the total population of Charleston (150 out 
of 300 adults other than Indian and negro) were Presby- 
terian, and nearly all of the fifty families of James Island 
also ; and yet the Church of England claimed to be the 
established Church, and was sustained by parish rates 
assessed upon the entire population. § In 17 10 there 



* See p. 129. t See p. 128. 

X WilUam Pollock graduated at the University of Edinburgh June 24, 1699, 
and William Livingston, April 29, 1701. The MS. Minutes of the Presbyterian 
Fund of London record, April 9, 1706, that Mr. Reynolds proposed a present 
supply for Mr. Livingston and Mr. Pollock, who have gone to Carolina to settle 
there. It was proposed to give them £5 each. 

§ Considerable light is thrown upon the situation in South Carolina by some 
letters of the missionaries of the S. P. G. given in the Appendix XIX. But we 
may call attention here to a letter of Cotton Mather to Principal Sterling in 1715. 
He says : " The considerable colony of Carolina as I am informed by three wor- 
thy Scottish ministers refugees from thence now sojourning in my next neigh- 
bourhood, was in a fair way to be a religious country under the influence of Pres- 
byterian ministers, who were the salt of these places. But the missionaries of 
the church of England no sooner arrived there, than a torrent of wickedness 
broke in on them and carried all before it." To this Mather attributes the dev- 



164 AMERICAN PRESBYTEPvIANISM. 

were five British Presbyterian ministers,^ Mr. Taylor 
having arrived from New England for the church at 
Charleston. 

The appeal of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, through 
Sir Edmund Harrison, was not successful at this time. 
It was not easy to secure ministers for the colonies. The 
Presbytery was, however, strengthened in 1710 by the 
arrival of two able men, John Henry from the Presby- 
tery of Dublin, and James Anderson from the Synod of 
Glasgow.f 

These came probably in response to private appeals. 
They brought with them the sympathy of influential 
men in Ireland and Scotland. Mr. Henry became the 
successor of Makemie at Rehoboth, and the heir of his 
influence in Ireland. Mr. Anderson succeeded John Wil- 
son at Newcastle.:]: 

Mr. Henry received a letter soon after his arrival, 
dated Nov., 1709, from the Rev. Alexander Sinclair, min- 
ister of the Plunket street church, Dublin, desiring cor- 
respondence and an account of ecclesiastical affairs, and 
giving assurances of financial help.§ 



astating Indian war and the large number of refugees of ministers and people. 
But the Scottish ministers soon after returned to their flocks. 

^ Letter from South Carolina June i, 1710. (See Hodge, Constitutional 
History, I., 73.) 

t John Henry is probably the one who graduated at the University of Edin- 
burgh February 24, 1703 ; and James Anderson one of the two registered at the 
University of Glasgow March 18, 1700, one of the 3d claiss, the other of the 
4th class. 

X See Appendix XX. for several important letters of Anderson. 

§ Alexander Sinclair was an influential man at this time. We have met him as 
taking an active part in the establishment of the General Fund. (Appendix XV.) 
He was born at Belfast in or about 1658, educated at Belfast, licensed by the 
meeting of Antrim about 1680, and came to Dublin as private chaplain. He was 
sent to Waterford, in the South of Ireland, as a supply. He was persecuted by 
the authorities, but appealed to Lord Clarendon, and was protected. The con- 
gregation was organized, and he was ordained by some of the neighboring min- 
isters in 1686-7. During the revolution he fled to Bristol, England. He be- 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. IQ^ 

It is probable that it was in the mind of Sinclair to 
aid the American Presbytery from the resources of the 
General Fund about to be established,* or at least from 
the fountains of benevolence which originated that fund 
and other deeds of kindness and help to struggling min- 
isters and churches. 

Mr. Henry was directed by the Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia to reply as follows : 

" The Presbytery met at Philadelphia, to the reverend Pres- 
bytery of Dublin wisheth grace, mercy, and peace (the bond of 
fellowship), and prosperity in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. 
.... Our late Rev. Brother, Mr. Francis McKemie, prevailed 
with the ministers of London to undertake the support of two 
itinerants for the space of two years, and after that time to send 
two more upon the same condition, allowing the former after 
that time to settle, which, if accomplished, had proved of more 
than credible advantage to these parts, considering how far 
scattered most of the inhabitants be. But alas, they drew back 
their hand, and we have reason to lament their deficiency. Had 
our friends at home been equally watchful and diligent as the 
Episcopal Society at London, our interest in most foreign planta- 
tions probably might have carried the balance. In all Virginia 
there is but one small congregation, at Elizabeth River, and 
some few families favoring our way in Rappahanock and York. In 
Maryland only four, in Pennsylvania five, and in the Jerseys two, 
which bounds with some places in New York, make up all the 
bounds we have any members from, and at present some of these 

be vacant That then, Reverend and dear Brethren, which 

at present we would humbly, for the sake of Christ's interest, 
make the subject of our address unto you is, that of your zeal- 
ous Christian and religious charity to the mystical body of the 



came pastor at Plunket street in 1692, and remained until his death in 1723. 
He was moderator of the Synod of Ulster in 1704. (See Boyse, Works, U., 
p. 148, London, 1728 ; and especially James Armstrong, Sermon and charge 
at the ordtftatwn of Jatnes Marti7ieau to the co-pastoral office over the con- 
gregation 0/ Eustace Street^ Dublin, with an Appendix containing a summary 
history of the Presbyteriatt churches in the city cf Dublin ; Dublin, 1829, 
pp. 91^^^.) 
* See Appendix XV. 



IQQ AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

blessed Jesus, you would raise one sixty pound to support an 
able well-approved of young man from yourselves as an itinerant 
in these parts, among the dispersed children of God for a year, 
after which time we doubt not but he may be settled comfort- 
ably. This we have used our interest in London for, in the hands 
of Rev. Mr. Calamy, which we expect, according to promise from 
the Rev. Mr. Sinclare, you will use yours also to forward." (Rec- 
ords, p. 20.) 

The recognition of such a body of ministers as the 
Presbytery of Dublin, as a Presbytery, shows that the 
Presbytery of Philadelphia was not composed of strict 
Presbyterians. Their notions of church government 
were such as recognized mixed bodies as Presbyteries. 
This confirms what we have already noted, that they 
were very much such a body themselves. They were 
now anxious to secure aid from the mild Presbyterians 
of Dublin, as they had already received it from the broad 
and tolerant Presbyterians of London, and welcomed it 
from Cotton Mather and the Boston divines, Davenport 
and the Connecticut ministers. 

Indeed the relations between the Presbytery of Dub- 
lin and the Synod of Ulster, at this time, were most in- 
timate. There was constant correspondence and co- 
operation without organic union. Mr. Sinclair claimed 
to be a member of the Synod of Ulster, without being 
attached to any of its Presbyteries, and at the same time 
a member of the Presbytery of Dublin.* 



* At this time Alexander Sinclair was in conflict with the Synod of Ulster. 
He claimed to belong to the Synod, and not to any of its Presbyteries. He had 
been assigned to the Presbytery of Belfast without his consent. He maintained 
the identity of elders and deacons, and was censured for this by the Presbytery 
of Belfast in 1709. He appealed to the General Synod in 1710, but did not re- 
ceive their support. However, the matter was not carried further with regard 
to elders and deacons ; but his relation to the Synod and the Presbytery of 
Dublin was the source of difficulty for some time. The Synod declined to re- 
lieve him and the Plunket street church of their responsibility to the Presbytery 
of Belfast. But Sinclair and his church declined to recognize any other Presby- 
terial authority than that of the Presbytery of Dublin. In 1711 the Synod of 



THE PKESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. 1Q^ 

This appeal to the Presbytery of Dublin cannot be 
directly traced to immediate results. The records are 
unfortunately lost. But it is evident from the minutes 
of the Synod of Ulster that efforts were made to send 
missionaries to the Presbytery of Philadelphia.* 

At the same time a letter was addressed to the Synod 
of Glasgow by the hands of John Wilson and James 



Ulster proposed to erect a new Presbytery of Tara Hill as a compromise, but it 
was not accepted. The matter was still unadjusted in 1714, when Mr. Boyse 
wrote to the Synod that "the Plunket street congregation are generally satis- 
fied to be subject to the Dublin Presbytery, as also to be subject to the General 
Synod." The Synod of Ulster and the Presbytery of Dublin combined in the 
installation of ministers over these mixed churches. (See MS. Minutes of 
Synod of Ulster^ 1710-1714.) 

* Minutes of Synod, June, 1712, 12th Session, contain the following record : 
" Tis overtured that some fit person be thought of to go to Pennsylvania. This 
Com. names Mr. Holmes the probationer as a fit person if he can be prevailed 
with to go ; and for an advancing the sum of 20 pound for defraying his ex- 
penses ; that the moderator of this Synod with Mr. Abernethy and Mr. Gowan be 
desired to use the utmost of their interest and endeavours with the recommenda- 
tion of this Synod to persons of a publick and generous spirit for procuring con- 
tributions towards the same." June, 1713, Sess. III.: "Mr. Robert Holmes 
Probationer chosen by last Synod to go to Philadelphia (upon application made 
to us for that purpose) is dead, and Mr. Kirkpatrick reports that for that reason 
and some accounts he had from Dublin that the members of the Presbytery of 
Philadelphia were supplied with some other ministers since the said application 
made to us, and our former appointment that some brethren should use diligence 
to get up the 20 pounds recommended to be raised for that particular service 
made noe progress in it, for which reasons the said brethren were excused." The 
explanation of this cessation of effort on the part of the Synod of Ulster is that 
the Dublin ministers reported the sending out of Robert Lawson and Daniel 
McGill by the London ministers (see p. 170) and also the efforts made in the 
Synod of Glasgow (see p. 169) resulting in the sending of Robert Witherspoon. 
It is also probable that Thomas Bratton, who arrived in Maryland in the autumn 
of 171T, was sent out by the Dublin ministers. We find a Thomas Bratten en- 
tered as a student of the University of Glasgow in the 3d class, March 3, 1701, as 
Scoto-Hibernus. He sent to the Presbytery of Philadelphia a "certificate of his 
legal admission to the ministry," and was called to Manokin and Wicomico, but he 
died Oct., 1712, before he could settle. In 1715 Robert Orr came from Ireland 
and preached to the congregation at Maidenhead and Hopewell, N. J., and he 
was ordained Oct. 20, 1715. A Robert Orr, Scoto-Hibernus, is entered at the 
University of Glasgow, Feb. 25, 1703. The General Synod of Ulster in 1712 de- 
clined by a large majority to employ one Robert Orr within their limits, but with- 
out reasons. This is probably the same man. 



1(38 AiMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

Anderson. This was also in response to an inquiry of 
the Rev. James Brown of Glasgow, probably addressed 
to Anderson. James Brown was now a Glasgow pastor. 
He had been a minister in New England, and was a 
friend and correspondent of Cotton Mather. He natu- 
rally took a great interest in the infant Presbytery : * 

" The number of our ministers from the respective provinces 
is ten in all, three from Maryland, five from Pennsylvania, and 
two from New Jersey. And we are in great expectation that 
some other places may be encouraged to join us hereafter. We 
have thought good further to represent to the Rev. Synod, the 
desolate condition of sundry vacant places who have applied to 
us for a supply of ministers, who express their Christian desire 
of enjoying the public administration of the gospel purely, but to 
their and our grief they are not in a capacity to provide a com- 
petent maintenance for the support of ministers without being 
beholden to the Christian assistance of others, at least for some 
time. We are sorry in our present circumstances we can neither 
answer their request by supplying them with ministers, nor con- 
tributing toward their outward support, some of ourselves being 
considerably straitened. May it therefore please the pious and 
Rev. Synod, in compassion to the desolate souls in America, per- 
ishing for want of vision, to send over one or more ministers, 
and to support them for longer or shorter time. We further 
represent that according to the best of our judgment, forty 
pounds sterling annually paid in Scotland, to be transmitted in 
goods, will be a competency for the support of each minister you 
send, provided that of your pious and Christian benevolence you 
suitably fit them out. And after they have here labored in the 
Lord's vineyard a year or two, we are in good hopes that they will 
find such comfortable encouragement as may induce them to set- 
tle among us, without giving you further trouble for their sup- 
port." {Records, pp. 20, 21.) 

This letter was presented to the Synod of Glasgow by 
James Brown, April 3, 171 1, and produced a powerful 
effect. April 5th it was resolved that the Commissioners 



* See p. 130. 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. ^69 

of the Synod carry the matter to the General Assembly, 
'' it being a matter that concerns the whole Church." But 
the Assembly's Committee on Overtures decided that it 
was not wise at that juncture to bring it before the As- 
sembly. Accordingly, Oct. 2d, the Synod reconsidered 
the matter, and referred to the several Presbyteries to 
see what they were willing to contribute " in making up 
a fund in order to sending of one or more ministers to 
those parts." The next day the several Presbyteries re- 
ported contributions amounting to ;^538 scots, and a 
treasurer, Mr. Gray, was appointed to receive these and 
further contributions. April i, 1712, the Presbytery of 
Glasgow reported that they had "pitched upon one 
Robert Donaldson preacher of the gospel who is ready 
to go to Pennsylvania upon the first occasion," and the 
treasurer was directed to pay him ^40. But for some un- 
known reason he failed to go. In the next year, April 
7, 1 71 3, the Presbytery of Glasgow reported that " they 
had sent Robert Witherspoon to Pennsylvania to labour 
in the work of the gospel in those parts, and they gave 
him ;^40 sterling to fitt him out conformable to the 
Synod's order."* Robert Witherspoon was received by 
the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and after examination by 
a committee, was ordained and installed as pastor at 
Apoquinimy, May, 1714. 

At the same time with these letters the moderator, 
George McNish, by order of the Presbytery, wrote a let- 
ter to Dr. Tong,f one of the most influential ministers 



* See MS. Minutes of Synod of Glasgow. Robert Witherspoon is entered as 
a student of the University of Glasgow, March i, 1697, and in the Faculty of 
Theology, Oct. 18, 1700. 

t Dr. Tong (spelled Tongue in the Records of the Presbytery) was pastor of 
the Presbyterian church of Salter's Hall. "He was a minister of considerable 
qualifications and ministerial abilities. He was greatly useful in his day, and 
preserved a large congregation, which was the richest in London. For many 
years their contributions for country ministers exceeded any other, and is very 



2Y0 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

of London. The letter has been lost. It was doubtless 
to the same effect as the others : an appeal for men and 
for money. There seems to have been a well-devised 
plan to have the Presbyterians of London, Dublin, and 
Glasgow support each an itinerant. The appeal to Lon- 
don met with great success. No less than four ministers 
were sent forth from thence in response, two by the 
Presbyterians and two by the Congregationalists. 

Robert Lawson'^ and Daniel McGillf came over from 
London, 17 12, with a letter from Thomas Reynolds,:^ 
pledging thirty pounds for the year. A letter of thanks 
was returned by the Presbytery, asking him to continue 
his favors. One-third of the thirty pounds went to the 
church at Philadelphia, one-third to the church at New- 
castle, and one-third to Robert Lawson. 



large, if not the largest still. Mr. Tongue had a large share in their esteem, and 
for many years obtained from them considerable gifts for poor ministers and 
congregations, as well as private Christians in distress." {Extracts from the 
Hist07-y of Protestatit Dissenting Congregations^ x'jin^MSS. III., Dr. Williams' 
Library, London.) 

•" Robert Lawson graduated from the University of Edinburgh July 3, 1693 ; 
was called to the Torthorwald church of the Presbytery of Dumfries, Scotland, 
and ordained April 28, 1696 ; demitted August 14, 1701 (Scott, Fasti. Eccl. Scot., 
IL, 602), and went to London. November 3, 1712, the Presbyterian Fund of 
London gave him an allowance of ^^5. April 5, 1714, they agreed that ";^8 
be allowed to Mr. Robert Lawson gone abroad to America at the desire of the 
Board, for the support of his family here, to be paid to Mr. Reynolds." (See 
MS. Minutes 0/ the Presbyterian Fund.) He was received by the Presbytery 
of Philadelphia September 15, 1712. He was called to Monakin, but died in No- 
vember before he could be settled. 

t Daniel McGill was graduated from the University of Edinburgh July 7, 1694. 
He came over with Lawson, and was received by the Presbytery as an ordained 
minister at the same time with Lawson. He seems to have had private business 
of some advantage to him. This he abandoned and became pastor at Patuxent 
in 1714. 

X " Mr. Reynolds was a remarkable pleader for the cause and interest of 
Christ and especially for poor ministers in the country and God gave him in a 
liberal manner the hearts and purses of his people (Eastcheap chapel), they mak- 
ing the largest collection of any congregation in London (Salter's Hall excepted) 
for many years." {History 0/ Protestant Dissenting Congregations in London, 
MSS. III., Dr. Williams' Library, London.) 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. ^^l 

Howell Powell* and Malachi Jones f came from Lon- 
don to organize Congregational churches in Pennsylvania. 
They were Welsh Congregationalists, and doubtless were 
sent over by the Congregational Fund of London in the 
interests of Congregationalism in the Middle colonies. 
They both soon abandoned the effort to organize Con- 
gregationalism as distinct from Presbyterianism in Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland ; and desired admission into the 
American Presbytery, which was broad and tolerant and 
catholic enough to receive them and their people. 

The Presbytery of Philadelphia was also strengthened 
by the accession of George Gillespie. He was received 
as a probationer from Scotland September 15, 1712, and 
was ordained and installed at White Clay Creek May 28, 
^7^3't John Bradner was also received as a student 



* Howell Powell was settled as pastor of a Welsh Congregational church in 
South Wales, and as such received aid from the Congregational Fund of Lon- 
don. (According to the MS. Minutes May 3, 1703, he received ;^5, July 3, 1704, 
;^5.) He settled at Chestertown, Maryland, and formed a Congregational church. 
(Webster, p. 345.) He offered himself for admittance to the Presbytery of Phil- 
adelphia September 16, 1713. *' The Presbytery was so well satisfied with what 
was offered in his behalf with respect to his ordination, &c., that it was agreed 
to admit him as a member, with advice to him to procure further credentials from 
some eminent ministers in England known to some of the members of the Pres- 
bytery, within a year's time, and that till then it shall be free to him to exercise 
his ministry in all its parts where Providence shall call him, but not fully to settle 
as a fixed minister until the expiration of the said time." {Records^ p, 33.) 
September 20, 1715, the Presbytery recorded its satisfaction with his further cre- 
dentials, and he was settled at Cohanzy October 14, 1715. {Records, p. 38.) 

t Malachi Jones was settled in Herefordshire, Wales, where he was aided by 
the Congregational Fund of London April 12, 1697 ; July 17, 1700 ; May 3, 1703 ; 
April 10, 1704. (See MS. Minutes.') He came to Pennsylvania and organized 
a Congregational church at Abingdon, eleven miles from Philadelphia, in 1714. 
He and the church soon went over to Presbyterianism. He was cordially re- 
ceived by the Presbytery of Philadelphia September 8, 1714. {Records, p. 37.) 

X He is entered in the University of Glasgow March 18, 1700, in the fourth 
class, and is registered in the divinity class February 24, 1704. He was licensed 
by the Presbytery of Glasgow, and came to New England in 1712 with letters 
from Principal Sterling to Cotton Mather. ]\Iather recommended him to the dis- 
tracted congregation at Woodbridge, N. J., but his settlement there was imprac- 
ticable. 



1^2 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

from Scotland. He was taken on trial and licensed 
March, 1714, and ordained May 6, 171 5, to Cape May 
church.'^ The interest in the American Presbytery con- 
tinued to increase in Scotland and in London. An inef 
fectual effort was made by the Synod of Glasgow, in 
171 5, to secure a probationer and ordain him for mis- 
sions to Pennsylvania.f 

October 6, 17 19, the Presbytery reported that "no 
probationer had offered since the last Synod that will 
goe in mission to Pa. ; and that they have laid out that 
money on interest at four per cent., that was to be given 
for the encouragement of such." 

The London ministers were more successful in their 
efforts. In 171 5, Hugh Conn;}: came from London with 
letters from Thomas Reynolds. He was received by the 
Presbytery as a probationer September 20th, and, having 
been called by the people of Baltimore county, Maryland, 
he was ordained October 3d. Reynolds sent a message 
by Conn that he would continue his gifts, and the Pres- 
bytery wrote him a letter of thanks. 

Thus the churches of Great Britain rendered effectual 
aid to the first American Presbytery From Scotland 



* He graduated from the University of Edinburgh April 17, 1712. 

t April 7, 1715, the Presbytery of Glasgow reported " that they had received a 
letter from the Presbytery of Pa. in America and that they had selected Mr. John 
Reid a probationer to be transported to these parts. The Synod appointed the 
treasurer to give out to the person who shall go the £"12 sterling in his hands, 
and the Synod recommended it to the several Presbyteries to consider what they 
will further contribute. The Presbytery of Glasgow was directed to ordain Mr. 
Reid before he goe. Oct. 2, 1716, the Synod appointed collectors in each Pres- 
bytery to collect 2 shillings of each minister for the work in Pa. For some un- 
known reason Mr. Reid did not go and it does not appear that any other was 
sent in his place, April 8th, 1719, Mr. Gray reported ;^2i 17/ sterling in hand 
and the Synod appointed it to lay out at interest until a probationer could be 
found to go to America." There were funds, but no men. 

X Conn is entered at the University of Glasgow as Scoto-Hibemus in the 
2d class March i, 1706. Webster represents that he was bom in Macgilligan, in 
Ireland. (In /. c, p. 351.) 



THE PRESBYTERY OF PHILADELPHIA. ^^3 

came, through private sources, Boyd, Anderson, Gilles- 
pie, and Bradner; the Synod of Glasgow sent With- 
erspoon ; the London ministers, Lawson and McGill. 
These, added to McNish, the original member of the 
Presbytery from Scotland, made eight Scottish minis- 
ters in all. 

From Ireland came Henry of the Presbytery of 
Dublin, and probably Bratton also. Conn was sent by 
the London ministers. Orr came probably on his own 
responsibility. These, added to the three Irish original 
members of the Presbytery, made seven Irish ministers 
in all. From Wales came two Congregational ministers, 
Powell and Jones, and one student, David Evans, trained 
by the Presbytery itself, or three Welshmen in all. From 
New England came Jos. Smith, Wade, Morgan, and 
Pumroy, besides the original members of the Presby- 
tery, Andrews, Wilson, Taylor, or seven in all. This 
was truly a combination of Presbyterianism of various 
types. The problem before them was either to sink 
differences in a new and broader American type ; or con- 
tend for national and partisan types of Presbyterianism, 
and separate into hostile organizations. The first Pres- 
bytery was happily united from the beginning of its his- 
tory until it grew to such a size as to divide itself into 
Presbyteries and assume the form of an American Synod. 
The Presbyterians of the original Presbytery were all of 
the broad, generous, tolerant type, such as we might ex- 
pect from a happy union of English, Scotch, Irish, and 
Welsh Presbyterianism. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA, I /I /-1 729. 

The Presbytery of Philadelphia continued to increase 
in numbers by receiving ministers from various parts, 
who supplied the large number of churches which sprang 
up rapidly among the emigrants flocking into the colo- 
nies from Europe. The ministers had increased from 
seven to seventeen, and the extensive region over which 
they were scattered justified the organization of a Synod, 
with subordinate Presbyteries. In 17 16, the Presbytery 
divided itself " into subordinate meetings, or Presby- 
teries/' three in number, composed of ministers whose 
names were indicated in the resolution. At the same 
time they resolved : 

" In consideration that only our brethren Mr. McNish and 
Mr. Pumry, are of our number upon Long Island at present, we 
earnestly recommend it to them to use their best endeavors with 
the neighboring brethren that are settled there, which as yet 
join not with us, to join with them in erecting a fourth Presby- 
tery." {Records, p. 46.) 

Thus the idea of meeting of ministers still predominates 
over the idea of Presbyteries. They adhere to the Irish 
model. 

I.— THE synod's " FUND FOR PIOUS USES." 

At the first meeting of the Synod in 1717 a" fund for 

pious uses" was founded, and Jedediah Andrews was 

appointed treasurer. This was the basis of all the 

schemes of missionary enterprise which have arisen from 

(174) 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 1^5 

time to time in the American Presbyterian Church. The 
Fund received great encouragement and help by a large 
contribution from Scotland. This was due chiefly to the 
earnest efforts of James Anderson. 

August I, 1716, James Anderson, of Newcastle, wrote 
an urgent appeal, through Principal Sterling, to the Syn- 
od of Glasgow, for a general Sabbath-day's collection for 
the help of the American Synod.* 

This letter was read before the Synod of Glasgow 
April 5, 1717 ; and the Synod appointed a Sabbath-day's 
collection for the third Sabbath of August of that year, 
which amounted to £^^,4.06 scots 2/3. The amount 
gradually increased until 17 19, when the Synod trans- 
mitted to Anderson £;^0S 14/6 sterling in goods, and 
£y 1 8/6 sterling in money, by the ship " Brothers of White 
Haven," freight free.f The goods and funds arrived safe- 



* See Appendix XX. for the letter. 

t The minutes of the Synod of Glasgow contain the following records with 
reference to this noble gift : April 5, 1717, a letter was received from James 
Anderson at Newcastle, Delaware, " representing the encouraging progress of the 
gospel in those parts by the ministry of several of our countrymen," asking a 
Sabbath-day's collection in the Synod of Glasgow to be sent to the Presbytery 
in Pennsylvania. The Synod did then appoint a Sabbath-day's collection on 
the third Sabbath of August, and appointed James Clark, minister in Glasgow, 
to receive the funds collected, and send them to James Anderson for the Presby- 
tery in Pa., "to be managed by them for encouraging ministers to preach 
the gospel among the poor of God in these parts." Octobers, 1718, James 
Clark reported ;^34o6 scots 2/3 as collected in the several parishes. April 7, 
1719, the Synod was asked whether the funds should be transmitted in money 
or goods, and the latter was determined upon. (See Appendix XX. for the letter 
of Anderson to Principal Sterling, recommending that the funds should be sent 
in goods.) October 6, 1719, Mr. Clark reported £2^5 scots 8/ additional since 
last report. The Presbytery of Glasgow reported a letter from the Synod in 
Pa., signed by James Anderson and George McNish, containing full acknowl- 
edgments to the Synod for their concern beyond others for them in those parts, 
gave hopeful prospects and directed as to the best way of transmitting the 
money in goods, books, &c. (See Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia in 
Records, p. 54.) The Presbytery informed the Synod that with the advice of 
intelUgent merchants in Glasgow they had turned the money collected into 
goods. The Synod appointed James Clark, John Hamilton, and Robert Miller 
to draw up a letter to that Synod in answer to theirs. April 5, 1720, the Pres- 



176 AMERICAN PEESBYTERIANISM. 

ly in the winter of 1719-20. The Synod of Philadelphia, 
September 17, 1719, appointed a "Committee to consider 
of the fund "; and they recommended that " a tenth part 
of the neat produce of the Glasgow collection be given 
to the Presbyterian congregation of New York toward 
the support of the gospel among them," and a com- 
mittee was appointed to receive the goods, dispose of 
them, and put the funds out at interest. At the same 
time an annual collection was ordered '' in every particular 
congregation, for pious uses," to be sent to the Commit- 
tee on the Fund. Thus the Glasgow collection was a 
stimulus to an annual collection in the Synod of Phila 
delphia. Sept. 28, 1720, the Synod appointed Mr. 
McGill and Mr. Young to 'Svrite a letter to the Synod 
of Glasgow and Ayr, and another to Mr. Sterling, Prin- 
cipal of the College of Glasgow, in answer to theirs, 
representing the hearty thanks of this Synod for their 
kindness to the interests of religion in these wilderness 
parts." 

II. — THE PURITANS OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 
UNITE WITH THE SYNOD. 

It now became convenient for the Puritan ministers 
of Eastern New Jersey and New York to unite with the 
Synod. Jonathan Dickinson,* of Elizabethtown, and 
John Pierson,f of Woodbridge, appear at the first 

bytery of Glasgow reported that the money had been turned into goods, under 
the advice of merchants, and sent with the Synod's letter. ' ' The merchants 
were at great pains and have done great service in the matter, and were so gen- 
erous as to transmit the goods free of freight." The accounts were : £305 ster- 
ling 14/6 in goods, £7 18/6 in a bill to Mr. Anderson, and i/io balance, a total 
of ;^3i3 14/10. The ship in which the goods were sent was the " Brothers of 
White Haven." Thanks were given to John Stark, merchant in Glasgow, "for 
his great pains in purchasing the goods that were sent to Pa.," and to "William 
Anderson and George Houston, merchants, for their giving the goods freight 
free." 

* See p. 160. 

t John Pier§on was the son of Abraham Pierson, rector of Yale College. He 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 



177 



meeting of the Synod in 1717. Jonathan Dickinson be- 
came the great representative American Presbyterian of 
the Colonial Period, the symbol of all that was noble 
and generous in the Presbyterian Church. At this time 
the church at Newark was without a pastor. In 17 18, 
Joseph Webb was called as supply, and on October 22, 
1719, he was ordained by the neighboring ministers, and 
united with the Presbytery of Philadelphia.* 

George McNish, of Jamaica, and Samuel Pomeroy, of 
Newtown, carried out the instructions of the Synod of 
Philadelphia and united with George Phillips, f of Setau- 
ket, in constituting the Presbytery of Long Island. 

The congregation of Southampton applied to the 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, September, 1716, for the serv- 
ices of Samuel Gelston, one of its licentiates, and they 
promised to subject themselves to the Presbytery, in the 
Lord. Accordingly Gelston :j: was ordained and installed 
as pastor of this congregation in 17 17. The venerable 
pastor of Southampton, Joseph Whiting,§ had died in 
the previous year. The other Puritan churches on 
Long Island at this time were Southold, where the aged 
pastor, Joshua Hobart,|| died in 1717; Easthampton, 
where Nathaniel Hunting T was pastor; Huntington, 



was born in 1689, graduated from Yale College in 1711, and was ordained at 
Woodbridge, April 29, 1717. 

* Joseph Webb was son of Joseph Webb, pastor of Fairfield, Conn., and gradu- 
ate of Yale College in 1715, (Stearns, in /. c, p. 121.) 

+ George Phillips was bom in 1664 ; son of Samuel Phillips, pastor of Rox- 
bury, Mass. He graduated from Harvard in 1686, and preached at Jamaica, 
from 1693-1696. He settled at Setauket in 1697, but was not ordained until 1702. 
(N. S. Prime, History of Long Island^ N. Y., 1845, p. 224.) 

X Samuel Gelston was bom in Ireland in 1692. He is entered at the University 
of Glasgow March i, 1706, as Scoto-Hibemus ; and in the theological class Feb. 
15, 1710. He went to New England as a probationer in 1715, and in the autumn 
of the same year was received by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. 

§ See p. 106. I See p. 105. 

\ He graduated at Harvard in 1693, and was installed September, 1696. 

12 



178 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

where Eliphalet Jones'^ served; and Bridgehampton, 
where Ebenezer Whitef was settled. We do not know 
why these churches did not join the Presbytery at this 
time. Bridgehampton was a daughter of Southampton ; 
and the town of Southampton, May I, 1712, voted 
twenty acres of land " for a parsonage for a Presbyterian 
minister." :j: Ebenezer White united with others in con- 
stituting the Presbytery of Suffolk in 1747. The reason 
for remaining apart at this time was probably the incon- 
venience of attendance upon the meetings of Presbytery. 
Dec. 4, 17 17, the Presbytery of Long Island ordained 
and installed Joseph Lambg over the church at Matti- 
tuck, increasing their number to five. In the meanwhile 
the Puritans of New York City were stimulated to re- 
newed efforts ; and they earnestly sought to organize, 
call a minister, and erect a church building. 

The following account of the origin of the church is 
taken from the Records of the Church of Scotland : 

" Dr. John Nicoll, Patrick McKnight, Gilbert Livingston, a 
grandson of Mr. John Livingston, (a minister of Rotterdam 
whose memory is deservedly had in great veneration by the 
Church of Scotland) and Thomas Smith with a few others in or 
about the year 1717 first entered upon the design of settling a 
congregation according to the method of Presbyterian churches." 
(Memorial from New York in the Minutes of the General Assem- 
bly of the Church of Scotland, May 30, 1766.) " They did apply 
to neighbouring ministers of the same persuasion to preach to 
them by turns in a house they had hired for that purpose, to 
whom they gave encouragement according to their ability. But 
this method being attended with many inconveniencies partly to 
the ministers, (some of whom lived above a hundred miles dis- 



*Seep. 105. 

+ He was born in 1672, g;raduated at Harvard in 1692, was ordained Oct., 
1695, at Bridgehampton. 

X Southampton Town Records, Liber A, Book No. 2, p. 75. This and other 
extracts we owe to the kindness of Rev. Epher Whitaker, of Southold, L. I. 

§ He graduated from Yale College in 171 7. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. ^^9 

tance) and partly to the congregation who were not always sup- 
plyed on the Lords day with publick ordinances, and wanted the 
assistance of a Gospel minister, almost wholly, for the discharge 
of the other parts of the instruction ; they found it necessary to 
look out for a minister of their own, & accordingly did prefer a 
call with such encouragement as they could afford to the Reve- 
rend Mr. James Anderson." (See Act in favour of the Scots 
Congregation at New York in America for a contribution, in the 
Minutes of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, May i6, 
1724.) 

In the summer of the year 1717, James Anderson 
preached for a month to a small handful of people in 
New York City. These sent him a call to Nev^castle, 
Delaware, where he was settled. The Synod transported 
him to New York, and he began his work in the late au- 
tumn of 1717. December 3, 1717, he wrote to Principal 
Sterling, of Glasgow, for aid. This letter was supported 
by a letter of George McNish, which he wrote by direc- 
tion of the Synod of Philadelphia November 15, 171 8.* 
The congregation went to work to erect a church build- 
ing. In the spring of 171 8 they were permitted to wor- 
ship in the City Hall while their church was in course of 
erection. f They raised ^600 by private contributions 



* See Appendix XX. for the Letter of Anderson, and XXI. for the Letter of 
McNish. 

t Dr. Charles W. Baird discovered in the Minutes of the Common Council of 
N. Y. the following Record : 

** Att a Common Council held at the City Hall of the said City, on Wednes- 
day the i6th day of Aprill Anno Dom. I/18 . . . . 'The Petition of Messrs. 
Gilbert Livingston, Thomas Grant, Patrick Macknight and John Nicols in Be- 
half of them selves & the Congregation of Disenting Protestants within this City 
Called Presbiterians was Read setting forth that they have purchased a piece of 
Ground within this City Contiguous to the City Hall or near thereunto, with 
Design speedily to Erect thereupon a Convenient Meeting house for the said 
Congregation for the Publick Worship and Service of Almighty God & praying 
that this Corporation will grant unto the said Congregation the use and Liberty 
of the City Hall in this City therein to Assemble and Meet together for the Pub- 
lick Worship and Service of Almighty God untill their Meeting house aforesaid 
be built and finished. It is therefore Order'd by this Court that the Prayer of 



IgO AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

in the city, and applied for aid to the colony of Connec- 
ticut and the Church of Scotland. The Legislature of 
Connecticut ordered a collection throughout the colony, 
and it was speedily forwarded. There was some delay 
in the help from Scotland. The cost of ground and ex- 
pense of building were unexpectedly great. The church 
became involved in debt and disputes, and the people 
were greatly discouraged. Two parties developed, di- 
viding the trustees and people. Cotton Mather writes 
to Dr. John NicoU, February i8, 1720: 

" We are very sensibly touched with grief at the information 
which you give us, of the strange difficulties and encumbrances 

under which your evangelical affairs are labouring As for 

us, we have never yet had any disadvantageous representations 
of worthy Mr. Anderson made unto us ; nor shall we receive any- 
thing to his disadvantage, without our first giving him and you 
an opportunity for his vindication." {Mather MSS. American 
Antiquarian Society^ 

Dr. NicoU and Patrick McKnight were with the pastor 
on one side, Messrs. Livingston and Smith were on the 
other. September 19, 1720, Anderson and his support- 
ers applied to Gov. Burnett for an Act of Incorporation 
for the church, but they were opposed by a remonstrance 
of Gilbert Livingston and Thomas Smith, and failed to 
secure it.* 

September 26, 1720, Messrs. Livingston and Smith 
complained to the Synod, and questioned the regularity 
of the proceedings of the Presbytery of Long Island in 
settling Mr. Anderson ; and complained of his sermons. 
The Synod sustained the Presbytery in settling him, but 



the said Petition be and is hereby Granted, Provided they do not Interfere with 
or Obstruct the Publick Courts of Justice to be held from time to time in the Said 
City Hall." {Minutes of the Comvion Councit, Vol. III., Library of Common 
Council, N. Y. See C. W. Baird, Civit Status of the Presbyteriatts in the 
Province of New York; Mag. Amer. Hist.., N. Y., 1879, p. 627.) 
* Documentary History of the State of N. V., III., pp. 460-464. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. ^g^ 

expressed the wish that the sermons " had been deHv- 
ered in softer and milder terms in some passages." ^ Dr. 
Nicoll represented to the Church of Scotland 

" that some who had hitherto appeared forward to promote the 
work not only withdrew their assistance, but vigorously opposed 
the same. Whether this proceeded from principle, they being 
Independent in their persuasion, or from regard to their worldly 
interest, fearing the charge would amount to more than at first 
they expected, or from both, we do not determine. But a stop 
was put to this good work for the space of twelve months ; dur- 
ing which time the walls, half raised, stood as a monument of 
ridicule to the enemies of our profession, who were not wanting 
to make us their daily derision on this account." t 

The pastor offended a considerable portion of his con- 
gregation, and they could not endure him. They with- 
drew in 1722, and organized a separate congregation, and 
called Jonathan Edwards as their minister. Anderson 
writes to Principal Sterling, September 9, 1723 : 

" We in this congregation are now, by burden of debt and 
other unnatural oppression, brought to the utmost pinch of neces- 
sity, so that if we meet not with speedy relief, we shall in all 
human probability, be obliged to quit striving and give up our 
interest in this place." (Appendix XX.) 

Patrick McKnight went to Scotland and appealed to 
the Synod of Glasgow for aid.:}: Dr. John Nicoll went 
over in the next year, and through his efforts the neces- 
sities of the church in New York were brought before 

* Records^ p. 62. 

+ Petition contained in the Act in favour of the Scots Congregation in New 
York for a Contribution, {Minutes of the General Assembly of the Church of 
Scotland^ May 16, 1724.) 

X The Minutes of the Synod of Glasgow contain the following record : "April 
5, 1722, Patrick McKnight as the representative of the Scots and English Presby- 
terian church of New York petitions for contributions. The Synod resolved 
to do something as soon as possibly they can and recommend the cause to the 
other Synods." 



182 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, May 
1 6, 1724, and it was resolved : 

"The Assembly having had the distressed congregation of 
the city of New York in America laid before them by a petition 
and memorial given in by Dr. John Nichol, their commissioner, 
and a petition from the Presbytery of Long Island in America, pro- 
duced by him, they earnestly recommended to all charitable per- 
sons to contribute for their assistance, and appointed Presbyteries 
at their first meetings after the Assembly to take the most effec- 
tual methods for bringing in collections of money for their relief ; 
and to send in the same at the furthest before the first of August 
next, to Mr. John Martin of Airies, whom they appoint collector 
thereof, and the commission is instructed to use all proper means 
for bringing in the said collection ; and to compt with the col- 
lector and see the money duly applied." {Minutes of the Church 
of Scotland^ 

The collection amounted to ^401 2/16, and it was sent 
over to Dr. NicoU for the expenses of building the 
church ; and it was arranged that the church building 
should be secured to Presbyterians for the future by a 
bond of ;^2,ooo, signed by James Anderson, Dr. Nicoll, 
and others, to Rev. Mr. McNish and two other min- 
isters of the Presbytery of Long Island, — that the prop- 
erty should not be alienated. 

The Synod of Philadelphia, September 20, 1723, ap- 
pointed a Committee of Conference with the ministers 
of Connecticut with regard to the affairs of the church of 
New York. As a result of the conference the two con- 
gregations were consolidated, but the wounds were only 
partially healed. 

The Committee were also empowered to " treat with 
said ministers of Connecticut about an union with us, 
and empower them to concert and conclude upon any 
methods that may conduce to that end." * The Synod 



* Records^ p. 77. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 133 

had already absorbed all the Puritan ministers of New 
Jersey and the majority of the Puritan ministers of New 
York ; why should the Connecticut ministers not combine 
with them ? The Connecticut churches were commonly 
called Presbyterian from the earliest times. Thus the 
commissioners for New England report in 1665, of 
the colony of Connecticut that *' for the most part they 
are rigid Presbyterians," but of Massachusetts they say 
'* their way of government is commonwealth like ; their 
way of worship is rude, and called congregational ; they 
are zealous in it, for they persecute all other forms." * 

The Connecticut ministers did not unite with the 
Synod, but they recognized that New York and New 
Jersey were its field, and they did not intrude upon it. 

The difficulties in the church at New York City as- 
sumed another phase. Dr. Nicoll nobly stood in the 
breach and assumed the debts of the church, in reliance 
upon the aid promised by the General Assembly of the 
Church of Scotland. This help was tardy. After the 
principal sum had been paid, the balance continued to be 
a burden for a long time. But Dr. Nicoll now had to 
defend the gifts from Scotland from the pastor and his 
adherents, who claimed that a portion of them should be 
set aside to pay the deficiency in the pastor's salary. 
Dr. Nicoll rightly contended that these funds were col- 
lected in Scotland for a specific object, namely, the 
church building, and could not be alienated to another 
object. In this he was sustained by the Church of Scot- 
land in the prolonged discussion which followed. Dr. 
Nicoll managed the finances too much by himself, and 
was not sufficiently considerate of his associates in the 
trusteeship, so that in 1725, the three others united with 



* Calendar of State Papers^ Colonial Series^ America and West Indies^ 
London, 1880, p. 341. 



]^g4 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the pastor in demanding an explanation from NicoU. 
They complained of charges of interest, non-cancellation 
of bonds and other irregularities. They brought these 
charges before the Presbyter>^ of Long Island and trans- 
mitted them to Scotland. But Dr. Nicoll was sustained 
by the people of the church and by the Church of Scot- 
land, so that at last James Anderson was forced to re- 
tire and Ebenezer Pemberton was called from New Eng- 
land. Under his pastorate the church prospered greatly.* 
The Presbyterian Church of New York City now be- 
came the centre of Puritanism in the Province. In 1738, 
the Presbytery of Long Island was enlarged by several 
churches in New Jersey, and received the name of the 
Presbytery of New York. 

III.— LARGE ACCESSION OF IRISH PRESBYTERIANS. 

Irish Presbyterians emigrated in large numbers to 
America from 171 3 onAvard, and added greatly to the 
strength of American Presbyterianism. The Presbyte- 
rians were rendered exceedingly uncomfortable in Ire- 
land by the " Test Act," which expelled them from all 
public offices, honors, and employments. 

" No Presbyterian could henceforth hold any office in the 
army or nav}^ in the customs, excise or post office, nor in any of 
the courts of law, in Dublin or the provinces. They were for- 
bidden to be married by their own ministers ; they were pros- 
ecuted in the ecclesiastical courts for immorality because they 
had so married. The bishops introduced clauses into their leases 



* The good Dr. Nicoll departed in peace October, 1743. As his pastor said 
in a funeral discourse in the First Presbyterian Church in "Wall Street : " These 
walls will be a lasting- monument of his zeal for the house and public worship of 
God, in the erecting of which he spent a considerable part of his estate. \Vhile 
the Presbyterian Church subsists in the city of New York, the name of Dr. 
Nicoll will ever be remembered with honour, as one of its principal founders 
and greatest benefactor.''^ {Ebenezer Pemberton, Sermon on the occasion of the 
death of John Xicoll, MM., A'. J'., 1743, p. 24.) 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. I35 

forbidding the erection of meeting houses on any part of their 
estates and induced many landlords to follow their example. 
.... To crown all, the Schism Act was passed in 1714, which 
would have swept the Presbyterian Church out of existence, but 
Queen Anne died before it came into operation, but not before 
the furious zeal of Swift had nailed up the doors and windows 
of the Presbyterian meeting house at Summer Hill, in the neigh- 
borhood of Laracor. Similar scenes occurred at three other 
places. The immediate effect of these proceedings was to es- 
trange the Presbyterian people ; and, soon after, when they saw 
that all careers were closed against them, wearied out with long 
exactions, they began to leave the country by thousands. The 
destruction of the woolen trade sent 20,000 of them away. The 
rapacity and greed of landlords, and especially of the Marquis of 
Donegal, the grandson of Sir Arthur Chichester, the founder of 
the Ulster Plantation, caused the stream of emigration to Amer- 
ica to flow on for nearly 40 years without intermission." * 

When the new Lord-Lieutenant, the Duke of Shrews- 
bury, arrived in Ireland, in 17 13, several of the leading 
Irish Presbyterians represented to him that '' the melan- 
choly apprehension of these things have put several of 
us upon thoughts of transplanting ourselves into Amer- 
ica, that we may there in the wilderness enjoy, by the 
blessing of God, that ease and quiet of our consciences, 
persons, and families, which is denied us in our native 
country." f 

Cotton Mather wrote to Principal Sterling, April 3, 
1713, that ^' as great numbers are like to come to us from 
the North of Ireland, the bond between the churches of 
Scotland and New England will every day grow stronger 
and stronger." ^ 

Thomas Craighead led the way. He removed to New 
England in 171 5, and settled as pastor at Freetown, 

* Thomas Croskery, /ri's/i Presbyterianism, Dublin, 1884, pp. 13-14. 
+ Reid, History of the Presbyteriaii Church in IrelaJtd, continued to the 
present time, by W. D. Killen, Vol. III., 2d edition, London, 1853, p. 95. 
X Mather MSS. in the Library of the American Antiquarian Society. 



l-gg AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Bristol county, Massachusetts, where he remained until 
1723 ; when he removed to Pennsylvania and united with 
the Presbytery of New Castle, January 28, 1724.* 

In the spring of 171 5, Samuel Gelston went as a pro- 
bationer to New England, and in the autumn was taken 
under the care of the Presbytery of Philadelphia.! 

John Thomson, a licentiate, removed in the same year. 
He was ordained by a Committee of the original Pres- 
bytery of Philadelphia; and at the organization of the 
Synod was assigned to the congregation of Lewes, Del- 
aware, in the Presbytery of New Castle. :j: Thomson was 
a narrow and opinionated man. He became the father 
of all the discord and mischief in the American Presby- 
terian Church. 

In 1 716 William Tennent§ arrived in America. He 
was an ordained minister of the Church of Ireland. He 
expressed to the Synod of Philadelphia, September 17, 
1 71 8, his reasons for dissenting from that Church, and 
was admitted a member of the Synod. 

His reasons of dissent are the following: 

" Imprzjnis. Their government by Bishops, Arch-Bishops, Dea- 
cons, Archdeacons, Canons, Chapters, Chancellors, Vicars, wholly 



* He graduated at the University of Edinburgh as Scoto-Hibemus, December 
10, 1691 ; became pastor of Dearg in the Presbytery of Convoy, Ireland. He 
appears in the minutes of the Sub-Synod of Derry, April 22, 1707. May 3, 1715, 
the Presbytery reported that it had loosed his relation from the congregation 
of Dearg by accepting his dismission, and that they had given him a testimonial to 
go to America, The Synod censured the Presbytery for not acting with greater 
deliberation. (See MS. Miiiutes in the Assembly's College at Belfast.) 

t See p, 177. 

\ He is entered at the University of Glasgow March i, 1706, as Scoto-Hi- 
bemus. The Presbytery of Armagh reported to the General Synod, June 19, 
1711, that they had entered him on his first trials. He came to New York in 
1 715. (See MS. Mittutes 0/ Synod of Ulster.) 

% He graduated at the University of Edinburgh July 11, 1695. He was bom 
in Ireland, and married the daughter of Gilbert Kennedy, the Presbyterian pastor 
of Dundonald, Ireland, He was ordained by the Bishop of Down, as a deacon, 
July, 1704, and as a priest September 22, 1706. (Webster, in /. r., p. 364.) 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 187 

anti-scriptural. 2. Their discipline by Surrogates, and Chancel- 
lors in their Courts Ecclesiastic, without a foundation in the 
word of God. 3. Their abuse of that supposed discipline by com- 
mutation. 4. A Diocesan Bishop cannot be founded jure divino 
upon those Epistles to Timothy or Titus, nor anywhere else in 
the word of God, and so is a mere human invention. 5. The 
usurped power of the Bishops at their yearly visitations, acting 
all of themselves, without consent of the brethren. 6. Plurality 
of benefices. Lastly. The Churches conniving at the practice of 
Arminian doctrines inconsistent with the eternal purpose of 
God, and an encouragement of vice. Besides I could not be sat- 
isfied with their ceremonial way of worship. These, &c have so 
affected my conscience, that I could no longer abide in a church, 
where the same are preached." {Records, pp. 51-52.) 

William Tennent was one of the grandest of the tro- 
phies won by Presbyterianism from Episcopacy in the 
first quarter of the eighteenth century. 

He settled at Eastchester, New York, November 22, 
1 71 8, and began the work of recovering Westchester 
county from Episcopacy to Presbyterianism. He re- 
moved to Bedford May i, 1720, and remained until Au- 
gust, 1726, preaching with wondrous zeal in the several 
towns of the county.* He then removed to Neshaminy, 
Pennsylvania, established the Log College, and became 
the Father of Presbyterian Colleges in America.f 

" To William Tennent, above all others, is owing the prosper- 
ity and enlargement of the Presbyterian Church Tennent 

had the rare gift of attracting to him youth and worth and 
genius, embuing them with his healthful spirit, and sending 
them forth sound in the faith, blameless in life, burning with 
zeal, and unsurpassed as instructive, impressive, and successful 
preachers." | 

In 1717, Robert Cross, another able man, was re- 
ceived as a probationer; and he succeeded James Ander- 

* C. W. Baird, History of Bedford Church, pp. 45 seq. 

t See p. 242. X Webster, in /. c., p. 367. 



188 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

son in the pastorate of the church at Newcastle, Septem- 
ber 17, 1718.^ 

In 1718, Samuel Young,t an ordained minister, and 
Henry Hooke, a probationer, were received by the Synod 
from Ireland.:}: Hooke was ordained and settled at Co- 
hanzy June 16, 1718. In the spring of 1718 an Irish 
minister writes to Wodrow : 

" There is hke to be a great desolation in the northern parts 
of this kingdom by the removal of several of our brethren to the 
American plantations. No less than six ministers have demitted 
their congregations, and great numbers of their people go with 
them ; so that we are daily alarmed with both ministers and peo- 
ple going off." (Reid, in /. c, III., p. 262.) 

The most of these ministers went to New England. 
William Boyd, pastor of Macasky, in Ireland, went 
thither with an address to Governor Shute of Massa- 
chusetts, signed by 217 names, of which nine were min- 
isters.§ He received encouragement from the Governor, 
and also from the New England ministers. He preached 
at a public Lecture in Boston, and was cordially re- 
ceived. Increase Mather writes : 



* He was born near Ballykelly, in Ireland, in 1689 (Webster, in /. c, p. 367). 
He is entered at the University of Glasgow Feb. 27, 1702, in the 4th class. 

t Samuel Young is entered at the University of Glasgow as Hibernus in 1691. 
He was ordained by the Presbytery of Armagh February 16, 1703. This Pres- 
bytery reported to the General Synod, in 17 19, that he had removed to America 
in the previous year. This Presbytery also reported to the General Synod that 
they had ordained, January 17, 1717(18), William Elliott, designed for America, 
but he appears, for some reason, not to have carried out this design. 

X Henry Hooke is entered at the University of Glasgow, in the ist class, as 
Scoto-Hibernus, March 7, 1712, and in the theological class, February 10, 1713. 
He was aided by the General Fund of Dublin in his education. He received 
£Z9i^ December 24, 1711, and £2. 6/ April 18, 1712, He also received from 
-the General Fund dJi appropriation of ;^i2 "on his going beyond the seas," 
April 26, 1 717. 

§ Alexander Blaikie, History of Presbyterian I'sm in New England^ Boston, 
1881, p. 48. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 189 

" Many in that kingdom, having had thoughts of a remove to 
this part of the world, have considered him as a person suitably 
qualified to take a voyage hither to make enquiry what encour- 
agement or otherwise they might expect, in case they should en- 
gage in so weighty and hazardous an undertaking, as that of 

transporting themselves and families over so vast an ocean 

But if the divine providence shall bring over to us a considerable 
number of sober, industrious, pious people, they will strengthen 
and be a blessing to the whole country. May they build on the 
foundation which their first English Predecessors have left 
them.'' {Gods Way the Best Way briefly and plainly demon- 
strated in a Sermon preach' d at the Lecture in Boston March 
19, 1718(19). By William Boyd, A.M., Minister of the Gospel. 
Boston, 17 1 9. Preface by Increase Mather.) 

The favorable report of William Boyd was immedi- 
ately followed by a considerable emigration. James 
McGregorie established himself with his flock at Lon- 
donderry, New Hampshire ; Edward Fitzgerald at Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts; and William Cornwell and James 
Woodside at Casco Bay, Maine. Cornwell and Boyd 
soon returned to Ireland. Cotton Mather writes to James 
Woodside, December 3, 17 18: 

" Tis more than time that your brethren here should bid you 
welcome to the Western side of the Atlantic and make you a 
tender of all the brotherly assistance that we are capable of 
giving you, especially under the difficulties which at your first 
arrival you cannot but meet withal. The glorious providence of 
God our Saviour which has been at work in the removal of so 
many people who are of so desirable a character, as we see come 
and coming from the North of Ireland into the North of New 
England, hath doubtless very great intentions in it, and what we 
do we know not now, but we shall know hereafter." {Mather 
MSS., American Antiquarian Society.) 

At this time Irish Presbyterians also removed to South 
Carolina. June 21, 171 5, the Presbytery of Armagh re- 
ported to the General Synod that they had '' ordained 
Mr. Hugh Fisher, designing to go to some of the plan- 



190 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

tations in America, where he may exercise his ministry, 
Mr. John Henry a minister in those bounds having in- 
vited him thither and desired that he may be ordained 
before he go away."* Fisher did not go to Maryland as 
at first designed, but to South CaroHna, and settled at 
Dorchester in place of Joseph Lord, who had removed 
to New England. f The General Synod of Ulster voted 
him a collection in the several Presbyteries as a viaticum. 
The Synod of Philadelphia, encouraged by the acces- 
sions from Ireland, in 1718 sent a letter to Joseph Boyse 
for the Presbytery of Dublin, soliciting funds for their 
assistance.:}: The Synod wrote to Boyse, as they had pre- 
viously done to Alexander Sinclair of the same Presby- 
tery ; § they were in sympathy with the spirit of that Pres- 
bytery. Joseph Boyse was the leading Presbyterian in 
Ireland at the time, the champion of Presbytery against 
Episcopacy, and of orthodoxy against the Semi-Arianism 
of Thomas Emlyn ; and at the same time a broad, gener- 



^MS. Minutes Synod of Ulster. 

+ See p. 128. Hugh Fisher was licensed to preach by the PresbTtery of Convoy 
in 1708. He was in difficulty with his Presbytery on account of an inscription 
he had placed on his father's tombstone " reflecting on some people in Donagh- 
more, where his father was minister." The Presbytery ordered him to erase the 
offensive epitaph, but he declined. The case was carried through the Synod of 
Derry to the General Synod, which finally admonished Mr. Fisher "as having 
acted somewhat unadvisedly," and directed the Presbytery to license him without 
any further insisting on the matter of the gfravestone. 

X Joseph Boyse was bom in Leeds, England, in 1660, the son of Matthew 
Boyse, an eminent Puritan, who had been in Boston, New England, for some 
years. He was educated at the academy of Mr. Veal, at Stepney. He was at 
first minister of the English church at Amsterdam. He became a colleagfue of 
Dr. Williams in Wood st. chapel, Dublin, in 1683, and remained a pastor of 
that church for 45 years. He was the most distinguished Irish divine of his age. 
In 1688 he defended Presbyterianism against King's Vindicice Calvtntsticce, and in 
1694 against Walker, and in 1694 against Bishop King and PuUen, and in 1695 
and again in 1716 against Tisdell. (James Armstrong, Ordination^ etc., p. 70. 
Calamy, Historical Account^ I., 405. Reid, Presbyterian Church in Ireland , 
III., 181.) 

§ See p. 164. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 191 

ous-minded man like Daniel Williams, his predecessor 
and friend. Moreover Henry Hooke had just arrived 
through the assistance of the General Fund of Dublin, 
and it was natural to look for aid to the same fountain 
of benevolence. 

Indeed, funds were greatly needed by the Synod of 
Philadelphia in view of the rapid extension of the church 
through this large Irish immigration. George Gillespie 
writes from Delaware, July i6, 1723 : '^ " In the space of 
five years, by gone, near to 200 families have come into 
our parts from Ireland, and more are following. They 
are generally Presbyterians." Mr. Ross, the missionary 
of the 'S. P. G. at Newcastle, writes, Sept. 17, 1723: 
" The church at Newcastle is environed with greater 
number of Dissenters than ever, by reason of these fresh 
recruits sent us of late from the north of Ireland. They 
call themselves Scotch Irish, — ignavum pecus, and the 
bitterest railers against the church that ever trod upon 
American ground." f Ministers also continued to be 
received from Ireland : Joseph Houston, J a probationer, 
July 29, 1724; Adam Boyd,§ a probationer, in July, 
1724; Archibald McCook,|| March, 1726; Hugh Steven- 
son,T May, 1726 ; and John Wilson, in 1729.** 

IV.— RECRUITS FROM ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 
In the year 171 8, a committee was appointed by the 
Synod of Philadelphia to write a letter to the London 
ministers. It was not sent, however, until 1720, for 



* See Appendix XXII. for this letter. f Letter Book S. P. G. 

J A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Feb. 15, i7ii(?). 

§ A student at the University of Glasgow, ist class, March, 1711, Scoto-Hi- 
bernus. 

J Student at University of Glasgow, March, 1711, Scoto-Hibemus. 

1 Graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Jan. 17, i724(?). 

*■* The Presbytery of Armagh made an unfavorable report concerning him. 
He removed to Boston, where he died, Jan. 6, 1733. (Webster, in /. c, p. 405.) 



192 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

reasons which will soon appear."^ The letter is addressed 
''to the much honored and very reverend Dissenting 
ministers of London." It states : 

" That there are now in number twenty-three ordained minis- 
ters and three probationers, who all have agreed to unite their 
endeavors annually at Philadelphia, for spreading and propagat- 
ing the gospel of Christ in these dark parts of the world, viz.: in 
the provinces of New York, the Jerseys, Pennsylvania, and the 
territories, Maryland and Virginia in all which, except the last, 

some of the aforesaid ministers do reside That there is 

nothing we desire more than the honor and comfort of a yearly 
correspondence with you, our very reverend and dear brethren, 
whom we do so much esteem in the Lord, if it were but to have 
your countenance, concurrence, and advice in the great and com,- 
mon work of our Lord and His kingdom." {Records, p. 54.) 

This letter was addressed to Dr. Calamy, John Nesbitt, 
and James Anderson, with a short postscript to each. 

In the meanwhile the London ministers were not idle. 
They sent out William Steward and John Clement in 
1 71 8, and these were received by the Synod as proba- 
tioners, Sept. 1 8th of the same year. Clement was or- 
dained in June, 1719, for Rehoboth, Virginia ; and Stew- 
ard for Monokin and Wicomico at the same time.f 

In 1720, John Orme was sent over by the London 



*Seep. 198. 

t William Steward was a student at the University of Glasgow. Thence he 
went to London with a letter from Principal Sterling to John Evans. (See Ap- 
pendix XXIII. for Letter of WiUiam Steward to Principal Sterling.) 

A John McClement graduated at the University of Edinburgh, Feb. 25, 1719. 
This is probably the same person. His diploma was given him a term after his 
departure. He also went to London. The minutes of the Presbyterian Fund 
of London record : " Agreed April 7, 1718 that £10 be given for furnishing 
and transporting of Mr. William Stewart and Mr. John MacClement approved 
candidates who are gone to be ministers in Maryland." MacClement seems to 
have changed his name to Clement. The Presbyterian Fund Board also en- 
gaged a William Gillespie to go to Maryland, and Oct, 6, 1718, gave him £xq 
for preparation. But he changed his mind, and was unwilling to go. Dec. 8th 
they appointed Mr. Mount to discourse with Mr. Gillespie concerning Barnett 
(the place where he desired to go), and acquaint him that " it is the opinion of this 
Board that he ought to go to Maryland." Jan. 5, 1718(19) : "A motion being 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 193 

ministers ; was received by the Synod, September 26th 
of the same year, and settled at Patuxent.* 

In 1722, Alexander Hutcheson, a probationer, was re- 
ceived from the Presbytery of Glasgow. This Presby- 
tery sent him out and paid his expenses to America in 
order to furnish the help asked of them by the Synod of 
Philadelphia. f The Presbytery of Newcastle transmit- 
ted a vote of thanks to the Presbytery of Glasgow for 
sending him. He was ordained June 6, 1723, at Bohe- 
mia Manor, Maryland. if 

Wales also sent a recruit in 1719, in the person of 
Thomas Evans, a student of the Presbytery of Caermar- 
then. He was ordained May 8, 1723, at Pencader.§ 

The Synod also received from Scotland Robert Laing || 
in 1722, and William McMillanT in 1724, but they re- 
mained but a short time at work. 



made by Mr. Blount that it may be resolved by this Board that whereas Mr. Gil- 
lespy has received considerable sums of money and parcels of books in order to his 
going over to Maryland to preach the gospel there, it is the opinion of this Board 
that Mr. Gillespie ought vi^ith all possible speed to go over to Maryland according 
to his repeated promises and engagements, it was resolved accordingly and that 
Mr, Calamy is desired to acquaint Mr, Gillespy with the said resolution." But 
it was ineffectual. William Gillespie remained in England. He was settled 
at Hatherley, in Devonshire, from 1 726-1 743. The minutes of the Fund also 
show that June 8, 1713, there was an ineffectual attempt to send a minister to 
Carolina. "Agreed that ;^io be allowed to Mr. Mack Murdrey for an ex- 
traordinary supply in case he goes to Carolina." It ought also to be considered 
that these ineffectual efforts that went on record imply also still more numerous 
efforts that were unsuccessful, and did not ripen sufficiently to be recorded. 

* He appears in the Minutes of the Presbyterian Fund Board of London as at 
Dartford, in Kent. The record is, " Paid Orme on his going to Maryland." 
Webster must be mistaken in representing him from Devonshire, England, un- 
less this possibly might be his birthplace. (Webster, in /. c, p. 372.) 

t Hutcheson was a bursar of Theology in the University of Glasgow, April 28, 
1714. 

X See Appendix XXIV. for his letter from thence to Principal SterUng. 

§ Webster, in /. c, p. 374. 

II A weak man, who was suspended and restored, and at last in 1726, by the 
Synod's advice, demitted the ministry. 

II McMillan is entered at the University of Glasgow March 11, 1720. He disap- 
peared from notice as soon as he was licensed to preach. 

13 



194 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

V 

v.— THE SUBSCRIPTION CONTROVERSY IN GREAT 
BRITAIN. 

The churches in Great Britain were at this time 
greatly disturbed by a controversy respecting subscrip- 
tion to articles of faith. The controversy was occasioned 
by the outbreak of Semi-Arianism in the ranks of the 
Presbyterian ministry. 

The conflict with Semi-Arianism began in Dublin be- 
tween the ministers of the Presbytery of Dublin and 
Thomas Emlyn, who was the first among Presbyterians 
to agitate against the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. 

Thomas Emlyn "^ gives the origin of the controversy: 

" I had been a preacher in Dublin (together with Mr. J. Boyse) 
for eleven years, to a congregation of Protestant dissenters, who 
were generally a sober and peaceable people, not unworthy of 
my love, nor had been wanting in any testimonies of affection 
and respect that I could reasonably desire or expect from them. 
.... I own I had been unsettled in my notions from the time I 
read Dr. Sherlocks Book of the Trinity which sufficiently discov- 
ered how far many were gone back towards Polytheism ; I long 
tried what I could do with some Sabellian turns, making out a 
Trinity of somewhat in one single mind. I found that by the 
Fatherhood scheme of Dr. Sherlock and Mr. Howe, I best pre- 
served a Trinity, but I lost the unity ; by the Sabellian scheme 
of modes and subsistence, and properties, &c. I best kept up the 
divine unity : but then I had lost a Trinity such as the Scripture 

discovers, so that I could never keep both in view at once 

One of the congregation of leading influence .... having first 
put Mr. Boyse upon the inquiry, himself came with Mr. Boyse to 
m.y house, June 1702, acquainting me with these jealousies 



* Thomas Emlyn was born at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, in 1663. He was 
educated at the Dissenters' Academy in Northamptonshire, and at Emanuel Col- 
lege, Cambridge. He became chaplain to the countess of Donegal and preached 
frequently in Belfast. In 1691 he became coUeag^ue of Mr. Boyse in Dublin. 
When he removed to London * ' he became the intimate friend and associate of 
Foster, Clark, and Whiston." " He died in the year 1743 in the 79 year of his 
age." (Armstrong, Ordination Cervice^ p. 70.) 



THE SYNOD OF PUILADELPHIA. 195 

I now thought myself, bound as a Christian, to declare my faith 
openly in so great a point, and freely own'd myself convinced, 
that the God and Father of Jcsits C/irz'si is alone the supreme 

being, and superior in excellency and authority to his son 

Mr. Boyse, not willing to take such a weighty matter on himself, 
brought it on the stage before the meeting of the Dublin minis- 
ters, to have his brethrens advice Upon this their first and 

only conference with me, these ministers immediately the same 
day agreed to cast me off, and that I should preach no more.' 
{A True Narrative of the Proceedings of the Dissenting Ministers 
of Dublin against Mr, Thomas Emlyn, London, 171 9, pp. xiv. seq?) 

It is evident that the Semi-Arianism of Thomas Em- 
lyn found no sympathy among the broad and generous 
minded Presbyterian ministers of Dublin. They sepa- 
rated from him without raising the question of subscrip- 
tion, and without exacting tests of orthodoxy from one 
another. 

Semi-Arianism soon after manifested itself in England, 
in the case of James Pierce, of Exeter. James Pierce 
had been influenced by an acquaintance with William 
Whiston, and also by reading Samuel Clark's Scripture 
Doctrine of the Trinity, to fall in very largely with their 
views. He was called to the pastorate at Exeter in 
1713. The dispute arose in the spring of 1717. In 1718 
Mr. Pierce and others stated their views in the Assembly 
at Exeter. He said : 

" I am not of the opinion of Sabellius, Arius, Socinus, or Sher- 
lock. I believe there is one God, and can be no more. I believe 
the Son and Holy Ghost to be divine persons, but subordinate to 
the Father ; and the unity of God is, I think, to be resolved into 
the Father's being the fountain of the divinity of the Son and 
Spirit." (James Pierce, The Western Inquisition, London, 1720, 
p. 105. The Minutes of the United Brethren of the city and 
county of Exon arid county of Devon from 1690 to September 4, 
1717, are in Dr. Williams' Library, Grafton street, London, but 
unfortunately they cease just as the controversy begins.) 

James Pierce, like Thomas Emlyn, was a Semi-Arian. 



196 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The question arose how to deal with this error. There 
were two parties in the Assembly at Exeter ; and the 
same two parties at once developed in London. The 
advice of the London ministers was asked by both sides. 
They held several meetings of the three denominations — 
Presbyterian, Congregational, and Baptist — in February 
and March, 1718(9). The Committee of the three de- 
nominations prepared a paper containing ^'' Advice for 
promoting Peace,'' and brought it before the General 
Meeting in London, February 19, 1718(9). It was care- 
fully considered, paragraph by paragraph, without any 
division. February 24th it was carried by the majority 
that '^ a declaration concerning the Trinity should not 
be inserted in the letter of advice." March 3d the mi- 
nority renewed the debate and urged to have the decla- 
ration inserted ; and when they could not accomplish 
their purpose, withdrew, and held a meeting by them- 
selves, and subscribed with their names the first of the 
XXXIX Articles of the Church of England, and the 
5th and 6th questions of the Westminster Shorter Cate- 
chism. This raised the question of subscription above 
the question of how to deal with Semi-Arianism ; and 
the discussion of this question prevented the union of 
the body against Pierce and his followers. 

The Presbyterian and Congregational ministers of Eng- 
land had long been opposed to subscription to creeds. 
Those who urged subscription were raising a new issue. 
They plead that the emergency justified it, and they 
urged subscription to a single article of faith in order to 
overcome a specific error. Such subscription had prec- 
edents enough in Puritan history.* But there was 
great disagreement as to the propriety of doing so on 
this occasion. The London ministers broke into three 



* See pp. 43-45. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 197 

parties, — subscribers, non-subscribers, and neutrals. The 
non-subscribers being in the majority, went on with their 
meeting, after the withdrawal of the subscribers ; the 
moderator, Josh. Oldfield, remained in the chair; they 
adopted their Letter of Advice, and sent it to Exeter. 
Their views as to subscription are thus stated : 

" If after all, a publick hearing be insisted on, we think the 
Protestant principle, that the Bible is the only and the perfect rule 
of faith, obh'ges those who have the case before them, not to 
condemn any man upon the authority of human decisions, or be- 
cause he consents not to human forms or phrases : But then 
only is he to be censured, as not holding the faith necessary to 
salvation, when it appears that he contradicts, or refuses to own, 
the plain and express declarations of Holy Scripture, in what is 
there made necessary to be believed, and in matters there solely 

revealed We did not think fit to subscribe, because we 

thought no sufficient reasons were offered, for our subscribing. 
We were prest to it, that we might clear ourselves from the sus- 
picions of Arianism. But, as we knew no just ground of sus- 
picion, much less of any charge against us, we thought it would 
ill become us so far to indulge an unreasonable jealousy, as to 
take a step of this nature for removing it ; especially since doing 
it would have been inconsistent with one of the Advices which 
we thought necessary to be given, and which was founded upon an 
Apostolical rule." {Authentick Account of several things done and 
agreed upon by the Dissenting ministers lately assembled at Salter s 
Hally London, 1719; also, A true relation of some proceedings at 
Salter s Hall by those ministers who signed the First Article of the 
Church of England, &^c., London, 171 9.) 

Of the Presbyterians 50 were non-subscribers, 26 sub- 
scribers, and 9 neutrals. Of the Congregationalists 7 
were non-subscribers, 23 were subscribers, and 5 neutrals. 
This was the situation when the Synod of Philadelphia 
wrote to the Dissenting ministers of London in 1720, 
and addressed it to Dr. Calamy, John Nesbitt, and James 
Anderson, with a short postscript to each."^ 

* See p. 192. Calamy was an English Presbyterian, pastor of Long Ditch 
church, Westminster ; Anderson was a Scotch Presbyterian, pastor of the Scots' 



198 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Considering the state of parties in London at the 
time, the American Synod made a shrewd and non-com- 
mittal choice in its correspondents. Calamy was the 
leader of the neutrals. Reynolds and Tong were fierce 
for subscription, but the great majority of the Presby- 
terian brethren were against them, and so the American 
Synod preferred to write to Calamy. The great ma- 
jority of the Congregational brethren were subscribers, 
and Nesbitt fairly represented them. Anderson was 
a subscriber, and represented the Scotch element in 
London. 

The position of the neutrals is explained by Calamy 
to Principal Chalmers, of Aberdeen, who happened to 
be in London and tried to persuade him to join the 
subscribers : 

" I told him, that, as for the true eternal divinity of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, I was very ready to declare for it, at that time 
or any other, and durst not in conscience be backward to it. 
But I could upon good grounds assure him, that was not the 
point in question among those that were to meet together on the 
day following; that certain gentlemen behind the curtain had 
so influenced their respective friends, for two different ways and 
methods to which they severally inclined, that, as they appeared 
disposed, a fierce contention and a shameful breach was in my 
apprehension unavoidable." (Edmund Calamy, Historical Ac- 
count of my own Life, 2d edition, London, 1830, IL, pp. 414-415.) 

Chalmers subsequently admitted that Calamy was cor- 
rect, after he had attended the meeting and seen the 
predicted results."^ It was partisanship, and not zeal for 
Jesus Christ, that brought on this deadly strife, as it 
does most ecclesiastical contentions and divisions. The 
Synod of Philadelphia was informed as to the real state 



church, Piccadilly ; Nesbitt was pastor of the Congregational church, Hare 
Court. (James, History of Litigation, pp. 669, 650.) 
* Calamy, in /. c, II., p. 416. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. ;J^99 

of affairs, and, as it seems, agreed with Calamy not 
to compromise itself. Isaac Watts, Daniel Neal, and 
Samuel Price also agreed with Calamy and remained 
neutral. 

It was indeed a sad mistake to divide the body on 
this question. The real sympathizers with Pierce were 
a handful, and could easily have been thrown off, if 
the over-zealous subscribers had not lost their heads, 
put themselves in a minority, and entered into war- 
fare with the non-subscribing brethren and the neutrals 
who were as orthodox as themselves. The General 
Synod of Ulster, at the meeting in 1720, wrote a pacifi- 
cal letter, prepared by Kirkpatrick, Abernethy, Choppin, 
and Orr : 

" The General Synod of dissenting ministers in the North of 
Ireland now assembled at Belfast with co-respondents from the 
Rev<i Presbytery of Dublin and the South, have found themselves 
obliged to take into the most serious consideration those lament- 
able differences which have of late happened among Protest- 
ants especially of our denomination, indeed the same spirit of 
jealousy and division which has so lately prevailed in other 
churches had begun to move among ourselves, and we were un- 
der the apprehension of such a breach as would have been the 
subject of our enemies insulting triumphs and the deepest re- 
gret of all who wish well to the honour and interest of pure 
religion, but by the good hand of God upon us, our fears are 
hitherto prevented, and we have fallen into such peaceful meas- 
ures, as we hope will strengthen and perpetuate our good agree- 
ment .... permit us therefore our much esteemed brethren to 
.express our sincere concern that your endeavours hitherto for 
restoring concord have been in so great measure unsuccessful, 
and our hearts desire is that you may be encouraged to an un- 
wearyed diligence in using that great interest which we are per- 
suaded you have with the contending parties to lay aside their 

animosities and return to brotherly love and peace It is 

so much the more to be hoped that charitable councils will take 
place, because with great satisfaction we have received assurance, 
that our dear Brethren speak the same things, and that there 



200 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

are no divisions among them about any important points of doc- 
trine, but only prudential methods, and matters of an inferior 
nature, concerning which differences of judgment ought not, we 
do not say to destroy, but even in any degree to lessen charity." 
(See MS, Mzjiiites of the Synod of Ulster:) 

This admirable letter was addressed to the chiefs of 
the three parties, viz. : Josh. Oldfield, Edmund Calamy, 
Tong, Mayo, Barker, Robinson, Evans, Reynolds, Wright, 
Grosvenor, and Brown. It breathes the sweet and noble 
spirit of that best of Irish Synods, which passed the 
Pacific Act. 

Subscription to the Westminster Standards was not 
designed by the Westminster Assembly, and was not re- 
quired or favored by the English Presbyterians, nor by 
the Dublin Presbytery in Ireland, which was in close 
sympathy and harmony with the English Presbyterians 
from the beginning. Antony Tuckney, one of the best 
theologians in the Westminster Assembly, tells us : 

" In the Assemblie, I gave my vote with others that the Con- 
fession of Faith, put outt by Authoritie should not bee eyther 
required to bee sworn or subscribed too ; wee having bin burnt 
in the hand in that kind before, but so as not to be publickly 
preached or written against." {EigJit Letters of Dr. Antony Tuck- 
ney, and Dr. Benjamin Whichcote, London, 1753, p. 'J^:) 

Subscription to the Westminster Confession did not 
originate in the Church of Scotland. Prior to the Revo- 
lution the Westminster Confession was honored as ap- 
proved with certain explanations, " as most agreeable to 
the Word of God, and in nothing contrary to the received 
doctrine of this Church^ In 1690 the Scotch Parliament 
ratified it anew " as the public and avowed Confession 
of this Church, containing the sum and substance of the 
doctrine of the Reformed Churches^ The General As- 
sembly of the same year appointed it to be subscribed 
by " all probationers licensed to preach, all intrants into 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 201 

the ministry, and all ministers and elders received into 
communion." 

In 1693, Parliament required subscription of all minis- 
ters, and in 1693 the General Assembly passed an act 
and formula of subscription in accordance with this re- 
quirement of Parliament, as follows : 

" I do sincerely own and declare the above Confession of Faith, 
approven by former General Assemblies of this Church, and rati- 
fied by law in the year 1690, to be the Confession of my faith, 
and that I own the doctrine therein contained to be the true 
doctrine, which I will constantly adhere to." 

However, many Presbyteries accepted a modified sub- 
scription which originated between 1690 and 1694 : '* I 
subscribe and will adhere to the Confession of Faith 
therein contained as founded on, and consonant to, the 
Holy Scriptures." No one familiar with Scottish history 
from 1690 onwards, will say that even the stricter for- 
mula of subscription meant verbal subscription. It was 
interpreted, in view of the Act of Parliament of 1690, 
" as containing the sum and substance of the doctrine of 
the Reformed Churches." 

The Irish Presbyterian ministers fled to Scotland in 
1689. When they returned, many of them were inclined 
to follow their Scottish brethren so far as was possible. 
In 1698, the Synod of Ulster resolved " That young men 
licensed to preach be obliged to subscribe to our Con- 
fession of Faith in all the articles thereof, as the Confes- 
sion of their faith." This did not apply to ministers in 
charge or ruling elders, as did the Scotch Act of 1693. 
The Act of 1698 was renewed in 1705 : 

" That such as are to be licensed to preach the gospel, sub- 
scribe the Westminster Confession of Faith to be the confession 
of their faith, and promise to adhere to the doctrine, worship, 
discipline and government of this church, as also those who are 
licensed and have not subscribed, be obliged to subscribe before 
their being ordained among us." 



202 AMERICAN PRESBYTERTANISM. 

The Scotch Act required by Parliament could not be 
passed in Ireland, where the State Church was Episcopal, 
and not Presbyterian ; and indeed there were diverse 
elements in Ireland which rendered such an Act impos- 
sible in itself. 

The Act of 1705 was due to the excitement produced 
by the Emlyn case. It was unanimously passed. James 
Kirkpatrick and John Abernethy, afterwards distin- 
guished as non-subscribers, were present and agreed to 
it."^ Thomas Witherow and James Kirkpatrick both 
claim that this was the first Act.f 

In 1705, the Belfast Society was founded by John 
Abernethy, of Antrim. This Society attracted the 
youngest and ablest ministers of the district. Many 
of them were pupils of Professor Simson, of Glasgow, 



* Thomas Witherow, Historical and Literary Memorials of Presbyterianism 
in Ireland^ Belfast, 1879, p. 142. 

i" *' The Protestant dissenters never required of their candidates for the holy 
ministry subscription to the Westminster Confession or any other Confession or 
book whatsoever, until the year 1705 ; though it had obtained for some years be- 
fore as a custom among the Dissenters in the North for the candidates to profess 
their assent to it at their ordination ; but even that custom was introduced with- 
out any act of their ecclesiastical assembhes, there being no act for making it a 
term of communion before the year 1705. In which year a Northern Synod re- 
solved to require subscription to the said confession, from all their candidates as 
the confession of their faith. But the Dissenters in the city of Dublin and South 
of Ireland have not to this day required any subscription from their candidates, 
who do all prepare their own confession in their own words. Having first pre- 
sented it to their ordainers, upon their receiving satisfaction by it, they deliver it 
openly at their ordination, in presence of their ordainers, and of the church of 
which they are to undertake the pastoral care. Which has likewise been, and 
yet continues, the constant and universal custom of the English Dissenters, not 
excepting the very time when Presbyterian Government had all the civil sanction 
in England which the Long Parliament could give it, and when the Westminster 
Assembly flourished, and was in the greatest vogue ; who having completed the 
Confession, would not have missed to recommend subscription to it, had that 
been ever intended as their design in composing it. And they discovered no 
great fondness of subscription when they rejected a motion made to them, that 
they should subscribe the Shorter Catechism composed by themselves." (Kirk- 
patrick, Vindication of Subscribers and Non-subscribers^ pp. 18 seq, ; in Withe- 
row, in /. c, pp. 166 seq.^ 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 



203 



and they were in sympathy with the broad Presbyteri- 
anism of Scotland, Dublin, and England. This Society 
became so strong that it furnished five out of six moder- 
ators to the Synod between 1709 and 1716. 

There was a struggle over the Toleration Act, which 
passed without requiring subscription. The Dublin 
Presbytery and the Belfast Society used their influence 
against subscription and prevailed. The Irish Presbyte- 
rian church was therefore free in this regard. The Synod 
at Belfast in 1716 debated the matter, and expressed 
themselves as in favor of including subscription to the 
Westminster Confession of Faith in the Toleration Act, 
or a sum of it expressed in a formula adopted by them ; 
but the Dublin Presbytery and the Belfast Society pre- 
vailed over them. 

In the meanwhile the discussion in Ireland was com- 
plicated by the discussions in Scotland over the case of 
Prof. Simson, of Glasgow, the teacher in theology of a 
large number of the younger Irish ministers. The same 
movements of thought were in progress in Scotland as 
in England and in Ireland. 

Edmund Calamy visited Scotland, the General Assem- 
bly, and the Scotch universities, in 1709. He noted 
there as elsewhere a difference of opinion in ecclesias- 
tical affairs. He testifies that he attended a committee 
meeting of one from every Synod of the Church of Scot- 
land to choose a professor of Church History, and was 
amazed to find '' that not one in all the company was 
for the jure divino of the Presbyterian form of church 
government, though they freely submitted to it." He, 
however, mentions a James Webster " who was ever- 
orthodox, and as great a bigot as any in the country"; 
and a mother who was anxious for her son, who had 
gone to London. She says to Calamy : " ' If he had but 
gone to where they had the gospel, I should not have 



20^ AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

been near so much concerned.' 'Ah, sir/ said she, 'you 
have no Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, Synods, and Gen- 
eral Assemblies, and therefore have not the gospel.' " * 
Calamy was honored with a doctorate from the three 
universities — Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Glasgow. Dan- 
iel Williams also received the same honors at the same 
time. The leading divines of Scotland were in sympa- 
thy with Daniel Williams and Edmund Calamy, Joseph 
Boyse and James Kirkpatrick, the leading Presbyterian 
divines of England and Ireland. 

This was now illustrated in the struggle over the case 
of Professor Simson. James Webster was the chief 
prosecutor, charging him with Socinianism and Armini- 
anism. This he disclaimed, and his disclaimer was al- 
lowed by the General Assembly. His real fault was 
that he was endeavoring, as a teacher of theology, to ex- 
plain orthodox doctrines in the terminology and in ac- 
cordance with the methods and currents of thought of 
his age ; while his adversaries were clinging to the old 
forms of statement in the scholastic divines, which had 
been introduced into the universities in place of the 
older Scottish worthies. The process resulted in a warn- 
ing in 1 71 7 to Prof. Simson and all other professors and 
ministers " from using such expressions and venting 
such opinions or hypotheses as are different from those 
commonly used by orthodox divines and are not evi- 
dently founded in Scripture." This did not satisfy 
either side, and the contest continued for many years. 
The liberal party in Scotland, England, and Ireland sup- 
ported Prof. Simson at the time. 

In 1719, Abernethy preached a sermon on ''Religious 
obedience founded on personal persuasion," and in 1722 
and 1724, two pamphlets appeared against subscription, 

" E. Calamy, Historical Account of my own Life^ 2d edition, London, 1830, 
II., pp. 153, 161, 167-170. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 205 

endorsed by the Dublin ministers : Joseph Boyse, Weld, 
and Choppin ; and James Kirkpatrick, and Halliday, of 
Belfast. These were the most prominent Presbyterian 
ministers in Ireland at the time. The majority was 
against them. But they were men of power and influ- 
ence, and had the sympathy of the London Presbyteri- 
ans with them, and also the liberal party in Scotland. 
The strict subscriptionists in Scotland were in agreement 
with MacBride, the leader of the Irish subscribers. In or- 
der to peace, the Synod passed in 1720 a Pacific Act, with 
the design of harmonizing the parties. Robert Craig- 
head was chiefly instrumental in this. He took the part 
of reconciler and succeeded for the time.* This Pacific 
Act is of great importance to the American Presbyterian 
Church, for it was the basis of its Adopting Act.f 

The Pacific Act did not satisfy the advocates of sub- 
scription. The London conflict excited them to re- 
newed action. In 1721 supplications were made from 
18 congregations in the Northwest against the Belfast 
society, praying that '' all the members of the Synod, 
and of all inferior judicatories, may be obliged to sub- 
scribe the Westminster Confession as the Confession of 
their faith." :j: 

* Robert Craighead was son of the Robert Craighead of Donaghmore and 
Deny. He was born at Donaghmore in 1684, educated at a school in Derry, 
and completed his education at the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and 
Leyden. He was licensed by the Presbj^ery of Derry, and soon after chosen co- 
pastor of Capel street chapel, Dublin, in 1709. "In the violent agitations 
fomented amongst the Presbyterians of Ulster he could not avoid being much 
concerned ; ' but the part he took was that of a reconciler, which he discharged 
with such temper and prudence that scarcely did any minister stand so fair and 
maintain so good an interest with both parties.' " He remained minister of 
Capel street chapel for 29 years, and died July 30, 1738 (Armstrong, Ordination 
Service^ p. 98). " He agreed with the non-subscribers in asserting that the 
church is not authorized in requiring subscription to any human creed as a test 
of ministerial communion." (Witherow, Hist. Mejuorials^ p. iSS.) 

■|- We shall consider this Act more fully in connection with the American Act. 
See pp. 216 seq. 

X Kirkpatrick, Defence 0/ Christian Liberty, pp. 47 se'j. ; Witherow, in /. c, 
p. 167, 



206 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISil. 

The excitement over Prof. Simson's teaching broke 
out afresh in Scotland. In the winter of 1725, ''sur- 
mises and reports of unsound and erroneous doctrine 
being taught at Glasgow " were industriously circulated. 
The '^ raiser and broacher of the fama clainosa against 
the Professor" was James Sloss, one of his former stu- 
dents, then pastor in Glasgow, who represented that the 
Professor had taught in his class-room in 1725 serious 
heresies upon the doctrine of the Trinity. It seems that 
the Professor was accustomed to comment upon Markius' 
Medulla and Pictet's Cornpendium, and to discuss them 
with reference to the Westminster standards. Prof. Sim- 
son wrote a fraternal letter from a sick-bed to the Pres- 
bytery of Glasgow, March 2, 1725(6), which ought to 
have set these rumors at rest ; for his statements with 
reference to the questions raised are clear, distinct, and 
entirely orthodox ; but there was such excitemxcnt over 
the matter that it was deemed best to enter judicially 
upon the case.^ 

It appears that Prof. Simson was endeavoring to meet 
the Semi-Arianism of the time by better statements of 
the orthodox doctrine. His views are presented in keen 
and discriminating language and are subtile in analysis. 
They put the doctrine in fresh forms, to meet the diffi- 
culties that w^ere springing up in the minds of the young, 
owing to the views of Samuel Clark, William Whiston, 
and others ; and which already had wrought mischief in 
the case of Thomas Emlyn in Ireland, and James Pierce 
in England ; and which were destined to rend all the 
churches of Great Britain in the i8th century, and to 
divide the Congregational churches of New England. 
The views of Prof. Simson and his methods of statement 
might have proved the very best antidote. They were 



* The Case of Mr. yoJin Simsoii., Prof, of Divinity in tJie University of Glas- 
gow^ 2d edition, Edinburgh, 1727. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 207 

indeed a sign of the times. It has been the fashion to 
represent him as the father of Moderatism in Scotland. 
He was rather a man who saw the errors rising, and dis- 
cerned that the scholastic barriers were unable to resist 
the tide. He strove to improve the orthodox state- 
ments and make them more powerful against error. He 
was a broad, catholic, tolerant, and generous-minded 
man, who was partially sacrificed for the sake of peace 
and unity in the church.* 

In 1725 the General Synod assembled at Dungannon 
and passed overtures on the subject of subscription. The 
Dublin ministers — J. Boyse and others — had written a 
private letter on the subjects coming before the Synod. 
This letter was attacked by MacBride and defended by 
Boyse. MacBride took the position that the peace and 
unity of the Church of Scotland (where there are above 
a thousand ministers) is better preserved than in any 
Church where no subscription to a body of Christian 
doctrine is required. Boyse, in reply to this, refers to the 
Marrow controversy, which was agitating the Church of 
Scotland, and claims that subscription has in no way 
secured a unity in the real doctrines of Christianity, 
where there has been a unity in the words or sounds by 
which it is expressed in the Westminster Confession. 

"And I take the Freedom to tell him, that I truly fear the Sub- 
scription to that Confession, which is there so strictly required, 
without so much as the Allowance of the Pacific Act, will sooner 
or later become the fatal Engine of breaking their Amity and 
Peace, especially if they should ever set up an unlimited inquisi- 
tory Power." (Joseph Boyse, Works, II., p. 357, London, 1728.) 

The Church of Scotland was at this time tolerant in 
spirit and generous in its dealings with the Marrow men, 
but the prediction of Boyse was speedily fulfilled, in the 
secession movement led by the Erskines. 

* See Appendix XXV. for some of the errors charged upon him. 



208 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

In 1726 the subscribers and non-subscribers came to 
an open rupture at Dungannon. The ministers were 
equally divided — thirty-six to thirty-six, with eight neu- 
trals ; but the elders were on the side of subscription. 
The ministers declining to subscribe were excluded, and 
organized themselves into the Presbytery of Antrim ; 
but at least half of those who subscribed, did so against 
their better judgment, refused to enforce subscription 
upon others, and were determined to use the liberty of 
the Pacific Act, by tolerating differences about non- 
essentials. 

VI.— THE SUBSCRIPTION CONTROVERSY IN THE SYNOD 
OF PHILADELPHIA. 

The American Presbyterian Synod remained without a 
constitution and without subscription until 1729. It 
was essentially a meeting of ministers. It only gradually 
assumed the functions of Presbyterian government and 
discipline as circumstances required. Their Presbyte- 
rianism was not of a stereotyped sort, such as was found 
in some of the mother churches, but was flexible, like 
the English and the Dublin Presbyterianism ; and accord- 
ingly it developed naturally from its own inherent 
vitality, and adapted itself to the circumstances of the 
New World. 

The mildness of the Synod in dealing with Robert 
Cross, who confessed to the sin of fornication, called 
forth an indignant protest from George Gillespie in 1720. 
This protest was answered in 1721 : 

" As we have been for many years in the exercise of Presbyte- 
rial government and Church disciphne, as exercised by the Pres- 
byterians in the best reformed Churches, as far as the nature and 
constitution of this country will allow, our opinion is, that if any 
brethren have any overture to offer to be formed into an act by 
the Synod, for the better carrying on in the matter of our govern- 
ment and discipline, that he may bring it in against next Synod." 
{Records, p. 68.) 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 209 

Against this Ansv/er, Dickinson, Jones, Morgan, Pier- 
son, Webb, and David Evans, protested. After consid- 
erable debate, the Protest was withdrawn, the Synod 
harmonized on four articles prepared by Dickinson, and 
gave thanks for the composure of their difference : 

" (i) We freely grant, that there is full executive power of 
church government in Presbyteries and Synods, and that they 
may authoritatively, in the name of Christ, use the keys of 
church discipline to all proper intents and purposes, and that the 
keys of the church are committed to the church officers, and 
them only. 

" (2) We also grant, that the mere circumstantials of church 
discipline, such as the time, place, and mode, of carrying on in 
the government of the Church, belong to ecclesiastical judica- 
tories to determine as occasions occur, conformable to the gen- 
eral rules in the Word of God, that require all things to be done 
decently and in order. And if these things are called ads, we 
will take no offence at the word, provided that these acts be not 
imposed upon such as conscientiously dissent from them. 

" (3) We also grant that Synods may compose directories, and 
recommend them to all their members, respecting all the parts 
of discipline, provided that all subordinate judicatories may de- 
cline from such directories when they conscientiously think they 
have just reason so to do. 

" (4) We freely allow that appeals may be made from all in- 
ferior to superior judicatories, and that superior judicatories have 
authority to consider and determine such appeals." {Records, p. 
74.) 

Jedediah Andrews, writing to Benjamin Colman, April 
30, 1722, says: 

" The business of the protestation that happened at our last 
Synodical meeting, I've endeavored to heal, and I hope 'twill be 
healed. I know not but the Pacific articles have had their good 
use. In short, I think the difference is in words, for I can't find 
any real difference, having sifted the matter in several letters 
which have passed between Mr. Dickinson and me upon it. I 
am still of the mind, as I told you before, that the squabble at 
New York is at the bottom, and has an evil influence on our 
14 



210 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANIBM; 

peace. I wish it may not do more hurt hereafter." {MSS. oj 
the Mass. Historical Society. Webster, in /. c, pp. 99-1 oo.) 

Jonathan Dickinson opened the Synod in 1722 with a 
sermon on 2 Tim. iii. 17, in which he declared that the 
Church had no authority to make new laws, or add to 
what is prescribed in the Bible. "• I challenge the world 
to produce any such dedimus potestatem from Christ, or 
the least lisp in the Bible that countenances such a regal 
power." * 

These pacificatory articles harmonized the two ele- 
ments for a time ; but the stricter sort were not satisfied, 
and began to agitate immediately for the furtherance of 
their views. The Presbytery of New Castle carried dis- 
cipline with such a high hand in the case of Robert 
Laing, that the Synod sustained Robert Cross and 
Thomas Evans in their dissent. In 1724 they entered 
on their books a formula expressing adherence to the 
Westminster Confession, and their candidates were 
obliged to sign it at licensure in this language : " I do 
own the Westminster Confession as the Confession of 
my faith." This was an usurpation of Presbyterial 
power, acting independently of the Synod in the advance 
toward the stricter Presbyterianism. The General As- 
sembly of the Church of Scotland, in 171 7, had prohib- 
ited '' Autherader or any other Presbytery to require 
subscriptions to any formulas except those approved of 
by the Assembly," and cited the offending Presbytery to 
explain their illegal action. The subscriptionists of the 
Presbytery of New Castle were acting in defiance of 
Presbyterian law and precedent. f 

These were evil times for controversy in the Synod, 
for two of the leading churches, Newark and New 
York, were in grave difficulties with their pastors ; and 

* Webster, in /, c. , p. 100. 

t Cunningham, Church History 0/ ScoUand^ II., p. 377. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 211 

the Synod had sufficient to do in composing these differ- 
ences without creating new ones.* 

In this evil state of affairs John Thomson, of New 
Castle Presbytery, introduced an Overture in favor of 
subscription to the Westminster Standards : 

" Now the expedient which I would humbly propose you may 
take is as follows: First, that the Synod, as an ecclesiastical ju- 
dicature of Christ, clothed with ministerial authority to act in 
concert in behalf of truth and in opposition to error, would do 
something of this kind at such a juncture, when error seems to 
grow so fast, that unless we be well fortified, it is like to 
swallow us up. Secondly, that in pursuance hereof the Synod 
would, by an act of its own, publicly and authoritatively adopt 
the Westminster Confession of Faith, Catechisms, &c., for the 
public confession of our faith, as we are a particular organized 
church. Thirdly, that further, the Synod would make an act to 
oblige every Presbytery within their bounds, to oblige every can- 
didate for the ministry to subscribe or otherwise acknowledge, 
coram presbyterio, the said Confession of Faith, and to promise 
not to preach or teach contrary to it. Fourthly, to oblige every 
actual minister coming among us to do the like. Fifthly, to en- 
act, that if any minister within our bounds shall take upon him 
to teach or preach any thing contrary to any of the said articles, 
unless, first, he propose the said point to the Presbytery or Synod, 
to be by them discussed, he shall be censured so and so. Sixthly, 
let the Synod recommend it to all their members, and members 
to their flocks : to entertain the truth in love, to be zealous and 
fruitful, and to be earnest with God by prayer to preserve their 
vine from being spoiled by those deluding forces ; which if the 
Synod shall see cause to do, I hope it may, through the divine 
blessing, prevent in a great measure, if not altogether our being 
deluded with the damnable errors of our times ; but if not, I am 
afraid it may be at last infected with the errors which so much 
prevail elsewhere." (Hodge, Crnsf. Hist., p. 140.) 

This Overture does not appear on the Minutes of the 
Synod. It was opposed by Andrews and the Americans 



*Seep. 184. 



212 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

and Welshmen, as impolitic and tending to division, and 
was staved off. It was brought up again by Thomson 
and the New Castle Presbytery in the next year, 1728, 
and so strongly supported that it had to be entertained. 
Accordingly the 

" Synod judging this to be a very important affair, unanimously 
concluded to defer the consideration of it till the next Synod ; 
withal recommending it to the members of each Presbytery 
present to give timeous notice thereof to the absent members, 
and it is agreed that the next be a full Synod." [Records, p. 91.) 

The Overture was printed. John Thomson, in advo- 
cating it, says : 

" We are too much like the people of Laish — in a careless, de- 
fenceless condition, as a city without walls, having never, by a 
conjunct act of the representatives of our Church, made it our 
Confession, as we are a united body politic, and there being noth- 
ing to keep out of the ministry those who are corrupt in doc- 
trinals, or to prevent any among us from propagating gross 
errors." 

Jonathan Dickinson at once attacked it in a letter 
dated April 10, 1729 : 

" I believe it will prove a difficult task to find so much as 
a proposal, much less an injunction of subscription, to any 
formula whatever in the primitive church, before Constantine 
the Great. They then found other means to detect heresies, to 
resist gainsay ers, to propagate the truth ; and to keep the church 
not only a garden enclosed, but a garden of peace. The Synod 
of Nice did indeed impose subscription ; but what was the con- 
sequence, but horrible schisms, convulsions and confusions, until 
the church was crumbled into parts and parties, each unchari- 
tably anathematizing one another " (p. 7). " The Presbyterian 
church in Ireland subsistei some ages in peace and purity, to the 
honour of their profession and envy of their malignant enemies ; 
and thus might they probably have continued, had not the fire 
of subscription consumed their glory ; and this engine of division 
broke them in pieces, disunited them in interest, in communion 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 213 

and in charity ; and rendered them the grief of their friends and 
the scorn of their enemies. And on the other hand, the churches 
of New England have all continued from their first foundation 
nonsubscribers ; and yet retain their first faith and love" (p. 8). 
" Tho subscription may shut the door of the church communion 
against many serious and excellent servants of Christ who con- 
scientiously scruple it ; yet its never like to detect hypocrites, 
nor keep concealed hereticks out of the church" (p. 12.) "I 
have no worse opinion of the Assemblies Confession for the 
second article in the xxth chapter ; God alone is Lord of the Con- 
science, &c and I must tell you that to subscribe this 

article, and impose the rest, appears to me the most glorious 
contradiction " (p. 29). " Upon the whole then, tho' I have a 
higher opinion of the Assemblies Confession than of any other 
book of the kind extant in the world, yet I don't think it per- 
fect. I know it to be the dictates of fallible men, and I know of 
no law either of religion or reason, that obliges me to subscribe 
it " (p. 32). {Remarks upon A Discourse intituled An Overture. 
Presented to the Reverend Synod of Dissenting ministers sitting 
in Philadelphia in the month of Sept 1728. In a letter to the 
author. By a member of the said Synod.) 

Dickinson proposes instead of subscription (i) strict 
examination of candidates ; (2) strict discipline in the 
church, especially with reference to scandalous minis- 
ters ; (3) "that the ministers of the gospel be most 
diligent, faithful, and painful in the discharge of their 
awful trust." Thus the two great champions of sub- 
scription and of liberty came into open conflict. There 
was grave peril in the situation. Jedediah Andrews 
writes to Benj. Colman, April 7, 1729: 

" We are engaged in the enlargement of our house, and by the 
assistance we had from Boston, I hope we shall go on comfort- 
ably with that work. The stone work at the foundation is laid, 
and all the materials are getting ready. We are now like to fall 
into a great difference about subscribing the Westminster Con- 
fession of Faith. An overture for it, drawn up by Mr. Thompson 
of Lewistown was offered to our Synod the year before the last, 
but not then read in Synod. Means were then used to stave it 



214 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

off, and I was in hopes we should have heard no more of it. 
But last Synod it was brought again, recommended by all the 
Scotch and Irish members present and being read among us, a 
proposal was made, prosecuted and agreed to that it should be 
deferred till our next meeting for further consideration. The 
Proposal is, that all ministers and intrants shall sign it or else 
be disowned as members. Now what shall we do ? They will 
certainly carry it by number. Our countrymen say, they are 
willing to joyn in a vote to make it the Confession of our church, 
but to agree to the making it the test of orthodoxy and term of 
ministerial communion, they say they will not. I think all the 
Scots are on one side, and, all the English and Welsh on the 
other, to a man. Nevertheless I am not so determined as to be 
incapable to receive advice and I give you this account that I 
may have your judgment as to what I had best do in the matter. 
Supposing / do believe it, shall I on the terms above mentioned, 
subscribe or not ? I earnestly desire you by the first opportunity 
to send me your opinion. Our brethren have got the overture 
with a preface to it, printed and I intend to send you one for the 
better regulation of your thoughts about it. Some say the 
design of this motion is, to spew out our countrymen, they being 
scarce able to hold way with the oLher brethren in all the dis- 
ciplinary and legislative motions. What truth there may be in 
this, I know not. Some deny it, whereas others say there is 
something in it. I am satisfied some of us are an uneasiness to 
them, and are thought to be too much in their way sometimes, 
so that I think 't would be no trouble to lose some of us ; yet I 
can't think this to be the thing ultimately designed, whatever 
smaller glances there may be at it. I have no tho't they have 
any design against me in particular. I have no reason for it. 
This business lies very heavy upon my mind, and I desire we 
may be directed in it, that we may not bring scandal upon our 
profession. Tho' I have been sometime an instrument of keep- 
ing them together when they were like to fall a pieces, I have 
little hope of doing so now. If it were not for the scandal of 
division, I should not be much against it, for the different 
countrymen seem to be most delighted in one another and to 
do best when they are by themselves. My congregation being 
made up of diverse nations of different sentiments, this brings 
me under a greater difficulty. I am afraid of the event. How- 
ever I'll endeavour to do as near as I can what I understand to 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 215 

be duty, and leave the issue to Providence." (Hodge, Con- 
stitutzonal History, I., p. 142.) 

This letter of Andrews is a faithful portraiture of the 
serious state of affairs in the youthful Presbyterian 
Church. There were two parties in sharp antagonism, 
but they both dreaded the evils and perils of separa- 
tion, and were thus prepared for concessions and com- 
promise. 

We have seen that the compromise measures of 1722, 
for which the Synod united in thanksgiving, were called 
pacific by Andrews in his letter to Colman. The 
brother of Craighead was chiefly influential in passing 
the Pacific Act in the Synod of Ireland.* During this 
long and fierce debate in Ireland, the Irishmen in Amer- 
ica could not but feel deeply concerned. The original 
Presbytery was composed of members who had never 
subscribed, and never thought of imposing subscription 
on others. The Presbytery of New Castle had, in 1724, 
for the first time required subscription of licentiates. 
The New England men and Welshmen were opposed to 
subscription. Dickinson agreed in his views with Cala- 
my, of London, and Boyse, of Dublin. But they saw 
the serious evils connected with the battle of subscribers 
and non-subscribers in London and in Ireland ; and they 
feared rupture in the infant Church of America, and 
were disposed to yield, so far as possible, for the sake of 
the Church and religion in the land. 

This was the state of feeling when the Synod met at 
Philadelphia in 1729. Twenty members were present 
and seven absent. The Committee for the Fund were 
Andrews, Dickinson, Pierson, Thomson, Anderson, 
Craighead, Conn, and John Budd (ruling elder). The 
'' affair relating to the Confession was referred to them 



* See p. 205. 



216 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

to draw up an overture." This committee was admira- 
ble in composition. The strong subscriptionists were 
Thomson and Anderson. The anti-subscriptionists were 
Dickinson and Pierson. The intermediate men were 
Andrews and John Budd, Americans, and Craighead 
and Conn from Ireland. Craighead had come to the 
American Presbytery by way of New England from Ire- 
land, and Conn by way of London from Ireland. Craig- 
head and Conn naturally inclined to the Irish Pacific 
Act. Pierson, as we should judge from his letter to 
Colman, would join with them. Ruling elders, in Amer- 
ica, generally favor pacific acts. The extreme men were 
therefore forced to compromise or separate. The result 
was unanimity. It is said that Dickinson so shaped the 
Adopting Act as to make it satisfactory to all parties. 
As he was the author of the Pacificatory articles of 1722, 
so now he was chiefly instrumental in the Adopting Act 
of 1729. Dickinson was the ablest man in the American 
Presbyterian Church in the colonial period. It is due 
chiefly to him that the Church became an American 
Presbyterian Church, and that it was not split into frag- 
ments representing and perpetuating the differences of 
Presbyterians in the mother countries of England, Scot- 
land, Ireland, and Wales, and the several parties in those 
countries. 

VII.— THE ADOPTING ACT. 

We shall compare the Adopting Act of the American 
Presbyterian Synod of 1729 with the Irish Pacific Arti- 
cles of 1720, in order to show that the former was con- 
structed in view of the latter, and that it was designed 
to improve upon them as a pacific paper, and to accom- 
plish what the latter did not accomplish, owing to cer- 
tain defects which were removed by the Adopting Act. 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 



2ir 



The Preambles. 



Irish Pacific Act. 

Whereas there has been a 
surmise of a design to lay aside 
the Westminster Confession of 
Faith and our Larger and Short- 
er Catechisms, we of this Synod 
do unanimously declare that 
none of us have or had such a 
design ; but on the contrary, as 
we do still adhere to the said 
Confession and Catechisms, — 



American Adopting Act. 

Although the Synod do not 
claim or pretend to any author- 
ity of imposing our faith upon 
other men's consciences, but do 
profess our just dissatisfaction 
with, and abhorrence of, such 
impositions, and do utterly dis- 
claim all legislative power and 
authority in the Church, being 
willing to receive one another 
as Christ has received us to the 
glory of God, and admit to fel- 
lowship in sacred ordinances, 
all such as we have grounds to 
believe Christ will at last admit 
to the kingdom of heaven, yet 
we are undoubtedly obliged to 
take care that the faith once 
delivered to the saints be kept 
pure and uncorrupt among us, 
and so handed down to our pos- 
terity ; — 



The American Preamble is in the spirit of Dickinson, 
Calamy, and Boyse, and the fathers of the original 
American Presbytery. It is an improvement on the 
Irish Act. If the American Preamble had been used in 
Ireland, the Irish Presbyterians might possibly have held 
together. 

The Acts. 



The Irish Pacific Act. 
— so we do earnestly recommend 
to all under our care to have in 
their custody and carefully pe- 
ruse them and train up their 
children in the knowledge of 



The American Adopting Act. 
— and do therefore agree that all 
the ministers of this Synod, or 
that shall hereafter be admitted 
into this Synod, shall declare 
their agreement in, and appro- 



218 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 



them ; and if any have spoken 
disrespectfully or tending to dis- 
parage them, we strictly forbid 
any such thing to be done for 
the future, and that our people 
should be assured of this as the 
unanimous judgment of the 
Synod, for removing all jeal- 
ousies they have had of any 
person on that account ; and 
we heartily recommend and en- 
join the said Confession (as be- 
ing a good abridgment of the 
Christian doctrines contained 
in the sacred Scriptures,) to be 
observed according to an Act 
of the General Synod in the 
year 1705. (Here a copy of the 
Act of 1705 is inserted.) 



bation of, the Confession of 
Faith, with the Larger and 
Shorter Catechisms of the As- 
sembly of Divines at Westmin- 
ster, as being in all the essential 
and necessary articles, good 
forms of sound words and sys- 
tems of Christian doctrine, and 
do also adopt the said Confes- 
sion and Catechisms as the con- 
fession of our faith. And we 
do also agree, that all the Pres- 
byteries within our bounds shall 
always take care not to admit 
any candidate of the ministry 
into the exercise of the sacred 
function but what declares his 
agreement in opinion with all 
the essential and necessary arti- 
cles of said Confession, either 
by subscribing the said Confes- 
sion of Faith and Catechisms, 
or by a verbal declaration of 
their assent thereto, as such 
minister or candidate shall 
think best. 



This Adopting Act is carefully framed. The Scotch 
Adopting Act of 1690 uses the phrase " as containing 
the sum and substance of the doctrine of the Reformed 
Churches'' The Irish Pacific Act contains the clause 
" as being a good abridgment of the Christia?t doctrines 
contained in the sacred Scriptures^ The American 
Adopting Act gives the phrase " as being in all the essen- 
tial and necessary articles^ good forms of sound words and 
systems of Christian doctrineT The American expression 
has two sides. The latter, '' good forms of sound words 
and systems of Christian doctrine^'' is of the same essen- 
tial character as the Irish and Scotch acts. There is an 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 



219 



important difference, however. The Scotch Act refers 
to the doctrine of the Reformed Churches^ the Irish Act 
to Christian doctrines^ and our American Act agrees 
with the latter, and not the former. The American 
Act, however, gives a still further qualification to its 
adoption. The Confession is not such in all its articles, 
but only in ^' all the essential and 7tecessary articles.'' 
The subscription is therefore limited to essential and 
necessary articles. The full import of this we shall con- 
sider further on. 



Exceptions. 
The Irish Pacific Act. 
— which is thus to be understood 
as now is practised by the Pres- 
byteries, that if any person call- 
ed upon to subscribe shall scru- 
ple any phrase or phrases in the 
Confession, he shall have leave 
to use his own expressions, which 
the Presbytery shall accept of, 
providing they judge such a 
person sound in the faith, and 
that such expressions are con- 
sistent with the substance of 
the doctrine, and that such ex- 
plications shall be inserted in 
the Presbytery books ; and that 
this be a rule not only in rela- 
tion to candidates licensed by 
ourselves, but all intrants into 
the ministry among us, tho' 
they have been licensed or or- 
dained elsewhere. 



The America7i Adopting Act. 
And in case any minister of 
this Synod, or any candidate for 
the ministry, shall have any 
scruple with respect to any ar- 
ticle or articles of said Confes- 
sion or Catechisms, he shall at 
the time of his making said dec- 
laration declare his sentiments 
to the Presbytery or Synod, 
who shall, notwithstanding, ad- 
mit him to the exercise of the 
ministry within our bounds and 
to ministerial communion, if 
the Synod or Presbytery shall 
judge such scruple or mistake 
to be only about articles not es- 
sential and necessary in doc- 
trine, worship, or government. 
But if the Synod or Presbytery 
shall judge such ministers or 
candidates erroneous in essen- 
tial and necessary articles of 
faith, the Synod or Presbytery 
shall declare them incapable 
of communion with them. And 
the Synod do solemnly agree 



220 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAXISM. 

that none of us will traduce or 
use any opprobrious terms of 
those that difter from us in 
these extra-essential and not 
necessary points of doctrine, 
but treat them with the same 
friendship, kindness, and broth- 
erly love, as if they had not dif- 
fered from us in such senti- 
i ments. 

There Is great resemblance here in the most import- 
ant part of these acts. They both admit of scruples 
against the Confession and Catechisms. They both de- 
fine how far these are legitimate. The Irish Act allows 
scruple with regard to ^' any phrase or phrases,'' and he 
shall have leave to use his ''own expressions^ They do 
not require i^erbal subscription. The Presbytery shall 
judge whether such expressions are consistent with '' snb- 
stance of doctrine^ They require the substance only. 
The American Act Is still more liberal In Its provisions. 
The scruple is '^ ivith respect to any article or articles^' 
not Ti\QXQ\.y pJirases. The Presbyter)^ shall judge whether 
the scruple Is about articles " not essential and necessary y 
They require subscription only^ to necessary and essential 
articles, and they agree not to traduce or use opprobri- 
ous terms of those that differ from us in these '' extra- 
essential and 7iot necessary poiyits of doctrijie^ The arti- 
cles are therefore points of doctrine. The act discrimi- 
nates between esse^itial points of doctrine, and extra- 
essential and 7ion-essential points. It requires subscription 
only to the former, and reserv-es the right of defining 
what these are In any particular case. This Adopting 
Act was adopted unanimously, and the Synod gave 
thanks. 

On the 22 d the Synod resolved : 

" The Synod do unanimously acknowledge and declare, that 
they judge the Director}^ for Worship, Discipline, and Govern- 



THE SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA. 221 

ment of the Church commonly annexed to the Westminster 
Confession, to be agreeable in substance to the Word of God, 
and founded thereupon, and therefore do earnestly recommend 
the same to all their members, to be by them observed as near as 
circumstances will allow, and Christian prudence direct." 

This is not \\\QJiire divino Presbyterianism, which had 
been generally abandoned in Scotland, and which was 
never put in practice in England or Ireland, but it is a 
substantial^ prudential Presbyterianism, " as near as cir- 
ctmistances will allow, and Christian prudence direct!' 
This is really a repetition of the phrase of 1721, ^'^ as far 
as the nattire and constitution of this country will allow."^ 

By the Adopting Act, American Presbyterianism steered 
safely through the troubled waters that split Irish Presby- 
terians and English Presbyterians into two irreconcilable 
parties. Would that the spirit of the Adopting Act 
had always prevailed in the Church, and that the peace 
so happily accomplished by the genius of Jonathan Dick- 
inson, might have been perpetual. Would that agree- 
ment in the essential and necessary articles of the West- 
minster Standards had ever prevented strife and disunion 
on account of difference with respect to unessential and 
unnecessary articles. This phrase is the pivot of the his- 
tory of the American Presbyterian Church. 

It was designed to adapt the best Presbyterian models 
to American soil, and not to strive to force Scotch, Irish, 
Welsh, or English types of Presbyterianism upon the 
new country. Still less was it in contemplation to con- 
strain the infant American Church into conformity with 
an ideal system such as it had been found impossible to 
realize in the best Reformed Churches. 

•Seep. 208. 



CHAPTER VI. 

AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 

The two sides of Presbyterianlsm which had de- 
veloped on American soil were harmonized for a while 
in the Synod of Philadelphia by the Adopting Act ; 
and they continued to work together for many years, 
not without friction. The New Castle Presbytery and 
its daughter Donegal were not satisfied. As they had 
begun the movement for subscription, they began a 
movement for strict interpretation. They followed in 
the path of the subscriptionists in Ireland, and advanced 
into a conflict which could only result in division and 
separation. In 1730 the New Castle Presbytery required 
verbal subscription of its members, and in 1732 the 
Donegal Presbytery followed its example, acting in both 
cases without authority from Synod, and in violation of 
the terms of the Adopting Act. 

I.— THE DIVISION OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN CAROLINA. 

Presbyterianism in Carolina went through the same 
internal struggles as those which agitated the Synod of 
Philadelphia. But they were more rapid in their de- 
velopment, and brought about an earlier division in the 
Church. The Presbytery of James Island was con- 
stituted in 1722-3 by Stobo, Fisher, and others.^ 



* There is no sufficient evidence that there was a Presbytery earlier than this. 
The clergy of South Carolina wrote to the Secretary of the S. P. G., Oct.- lo, 
1721, that the dissenting teachers " are endeavouring to settle a Presbytery and 
form of church government according to the church of Scotland, which they 
insinuate to be as much estabUshed here by virtue of the Union as is the church 
(222) 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. £23 

An application was made to the Synod of Glasgow, 
October, 1723, from the parish of Edisto Island, S. C, 
and an adjoining parish, with two calls for ministers in 
blank. The Synod earnestly endeavored to secure 
them/^ After some difficulty they sent over Mr, John 



of England, a'tho the church of England is established here by the particular 
laws of the province." (See Letter Book S. P. G,, XV., p. 59.) The author of 
the Hist. Acct. 0; the Rise and Progress of the Coloiiies of South Carolina and 
Georgia^ Vol. II., p. 52, 1779, says : " An association had been formed in favour of 
this mode of worship (e. g. Presbyterian) by Mess. Stobo, Fisher and Wither- 
spoon, three ministers of the Church of Scotland together with Joseph Stanyarn 
and Joseph Blake, men of respectable characters and considerable fortunes. The 
Presbyterians had already erected churches at Charlestown, Wiltown, and on 
three of the maritime islands for the use of the people adhering to that form of 
worship. As the inhabitants multiplied, several more in different parts of the 
province afterwards joined them and built churches, particularly at Jacksons- 
burgh, Indian Town, Port Royal and Williamsburgh." The statement of this 
historian is inaccurate ; for Witherspoon did not arrive in the colony from Scot- 
land until 1727. He probably has mistaken Witherspoon for Livingston, who was 
pastor of the church in Charleston in 17 ;2. It is clear from William Maxwell's 
Letter (Wodrow MSS., XXII., 124) that he became connected with the Presbytery 
immediately on his arrival in 1724 ; Nathan Bassett united with the Presbytery 
the same year. (See Letter of Ordination in Appendix XXVI., and also Fisher's 
Divitte Right of Private Judgtnent set in a True Lights 1731, p. 97.) It is 
also unlikely that there should be no mention of the Pi'esbytery of James Island 
in the minutes of the Synod of Glasgow in 1723, if they knew of the existence of 
the Presbytery. It was probably constituted late in 1722 or early in 1723. The 
Letter Book of the S. P. G., also contains a petition of Archibald Stobo, 
under date of 1722, to the House of Representatives of the province, stating that 
he had been a resident twenty -one years, and was now minister of the gospel at 
Willtown in Colleton Co., and petitions that the Established Church of Scotland 
should be on the same footing as the Established Church of England. 

* The minutes of the Synod of Glasgow contain the following records : 
" Oct. ist, 1723. Prof. Simpson informed the Synod that there is a gentleman 
in this country come from South Carolina in America, who shows that some 
there are very disposed to have the gospel preached among them and that 
he makes very encouraging offers to any two well qualified persons who will go 
there to preach the gospel. The Synod remit to their Committee for Overtures 
to see the grounds of the said encouragement and accordingly to see to find and 
deal with fit persons to go to that country. Oct. 3, 1723. It was reported that 
Mr. Paul Hamilton was come over from South Carolina instructed from the 
parish of Edisto Island and from the next neighboring parish with two calls 
blank as to the persons to be called ; desiring two well qualified preachers may 
be dealt with to accept those calls, and then ordained ministers for those 
parishes ; and having ako exhibited security for sufficient stipend, glebe and manse 



224 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Deane and Mr. William Maxwell. These settled in the 
two parishes. Deane very soon died, and Maxwell 
failed to satisfy the people at Edisto Island ; and so 
in the autumn of 1725 he removed to Barnsted Downs 
with the advice of the Presbytery." 

There must have been considerable activity among 
the Presbyterians at this time. Livingston, of Charles- 
ton, earnestly sought for an assistant on account of ill 
health, and made application to the Board of the 
Presbyterian Fund, London, who had sent him out to 
Charleston some years previous. These consulted with 
the Congregational Fund Board, but for some unknown 
reason did not succeed. f It is noteworthy that Congre- 

for these ministers and offering to take thern along with him, and defraying their 
passage ; and said Mr. Hamilton having applied to the Presbytery of Glasgow 
before the sitting of this Synod who made the proposal to two or three well 
qualifled preachers who had the matter under consideration. And the affair be- 
ing moved in the Synod, was referred to the Com. for Overtures who called 
before them three probationers, Mr. James Miller, John Stark and Gilbert Craig 
and especially dealt with them to comply with the said call and did overture to 
the Synod that any of the said preachers, one or two that would be prevailed 
with, should be sent in mission for this Synod to the parishes in South Carolina 
to labour there in the work of the gospel, and if they find the climate did not 
agree with their health or that other circumstances hindered them from labour- 
ing in the work of the Lord, comfortably for a longer time, they shall then be 
allowed to return home. And the Synod considering the great importance of 
this work whereby the gospel may be promoted in foreign parts, among people 
who seem to be so earnest to enjoy pure gospel ordinances which gives the mis- 
sionaries hope that they might be more useful there than in their own country. 
They do with the greatest earnestness recommend to the consideration of the said 
preachers the clear and loud call of Providence to them, and cannot but hope 
and report they will find it their duty to comply therewith. The Synod did also 
empower the Presbytery of Glasgow to meet in Presbytery to deal with them and 
appoint such as are willing to go to preach before them and if satisfied ordain 
them." {MS. Minutes of the Synod of Glasgow.) 

* See Letter 0/ Maxwell in Wodrow MSS., XXII., 124. 

t Apiil 2, 1722, the minutes of the Presbyterian Fund Board contain the 
following record : " On motion of Mr. Martyn it was agreed that Mr. Tong, Mr. 
Reynolds and Mr. IMount be desired to consult some of the gentlemen of the 
other Fund about sending over an assistant to I\Ir. Livingston at Charlestown in 
S. C. and that they report of it at the next meeting." The committee made no 
report, and nothing seems to have been accomplished. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 225 

gationalists and Presbyterians were regarded as having 
equal rights in that church. However, the New England 
ministers were more successful. April 14, 1724, Nathan 
Bassett, a graduate of Harvard College, was ordained 
by the Boston ministers, and sent to Charleston in place 
of Livingston, who had just died.* 

The Synod of Glasgow continued to exert itself in 
behalf of the Presbytery in South Carolina. In April, 
1726, the death of John Deane was reported to it by the 
Presbytery of James Island, and it was ordered that a 
collection be taken to send a probationer thither. Oc- 
tober, 1727, John Witherspoon was sent by the Synod, 
and his viaticum was paid by them.f About the same 
time Josiah Smith was induced to leave the Bermudas, 
where he was pastor, and settle at Cainhoy in South 
Carolina.:!: 

* See Appendix XXV. for the Letter of Ordination of Bassett. 

t MS. Mi7tutes of the Synod of Glasgow. 

\ Benjamin Colman gives him a very strong recommendation (see his Preface 
to a Discourse delivered at Boston on yuly 11, 1726, then occasioned by the 
author's ordination, and now published at the request of several gentlemen who 
were present at the delivery of it; by Josiah Smith, B.A., and pastor of the 
church in Bermuda ; Boston, 1726.) Colman says that Josiah Smith was the 
son of a worthy father, who removed to Bermuda with him in his childhood. 
He was anxious to secure a pastor for the Bermuda church from New England, 
but failed. Subsequently James Paul, from Great Britain, became minister. 
Mr. Smith brought his son to be educated at the grammar-school at Cambridge, 
and at Harvard College, where he took his degree. He returned to Bermuda to 
assist Mr. Paul. After a brief ministry he returned to New England, and was 
ordained by the Boston ministers. " No one has risen among us and gone from 
us so suddenly, with like esteem, affection, and applause, as Mr. Smith has 
done." "It is an honour to our college to have such a son to boast of among 
the islands." Mr. Smith was an intimate of Mr. Bassett, and probably was 
drawn to South Carolina by his influence. In a Sertnon {delivered at Charles- 
town^ in South Carolina^ the Lord^s cay after the funeral^ and sacred to tlie 
memory of the Reverend Mr, Natha7i Bassett^ who exchanged this life for a 
better life ^ yune 26^ 1738; by Josiah Snii.h ; Boston, 1739), Smith says: "We 
were cotemporary, and studied together at the same university, there we com- 
menced that acquaintance, which nothing but death, for 16 pleasant years, 

could terminate or dissolve We were set apart to the ministry in the 

same pulpit^ and, if I mistake not, by the imposition of the same hands. .... 
We have for some years ministered together in this place of worship." 

15 



226 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The controversy about subscription arose in the Pres- 
bytery of James Island, in the year 1727. It continued 
for a long time in private debates* between Mr. Porter 
and Mr. Bassett on the one hand, and Mr. Fisher on the 
other. Josiah Smith, when he arrived and joined the 
Presbytery, took an active part with his friend Bassett. 
Bassett preached a sermon before the Presbytery assert- 
ing the right of private judgment, and opposing the im- 
position of human opinions on others. He took the 
ground that ministers 

" must teach with meekness and humility as fallible men. They 
must not dictate or impose their own interpretations or sense of 
Scripture on their hearers, for the rule of faith and practice, in 

controverted and disputable points They must so teach 

as to leave men to, as every man undoubtedly has the right of 
private judgment; .... And not arrogantly impose what we 
advance as equal with the inspired writings, as to its infallibility. 
.... But we are to make use of the same gentle methods of 
teaching, that Christ and his apostles did : the soft and easy way 
of argument and persuasion." (Bassett gives this statement of 
his sermon in his Appendix to Josiah Smith's Divine Right oj 
Private Judgment Vindicated, Boston, 1730.) 

Hugh Fisher took exception to the sermon in the 
Presbytery. On March 5, 1728(9), Josiah Smith preached 
before the Presbytery a sermon which created so much 
excitement that it was deemed best to publish it.f 

He takes the following position : 

" I would ever make the Scripture my supreme rule, and my 
reason the eye to direct me by it : for as a rule is useless without 
the eye, so is Scripture without reason. I am far from pre- 



* Fisher, Divine right of private judgment set in a true lights I73i| PP« 
94, 97- 

+ It is entitled, Huma7ie Impositions proved unscripturat, or the divine right 
0/ private judgment. A Sermon preached at the opening of a Presbytery in 
Charlestown, in the Province of South Carolina., March 5, 1728(9). By Josiah 
Smith, M.A., now pastor of the Dissenting church at Cainhoy. Boston, 1729. 



AMERICAN PKESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 227 

tending to exalt reason above Revelation. But Reason is abso- 
lutely necessary to improve Revelation to its proper end. I 
would also honour Synods and Councils as they preserve a mu- 
tual agreement among pastors, and are of vast service in the 
illustration of Scripture ; a standing evidence whereof is that ex- 
cellent composure the Westminster Confession of Faith. 'Tis 
only the imposing power I reject." (Page ii.) 

To this sermon Hugh Fisher immediately replied.* 
Smith rejoined, t and met the suspicions as to his ortho- 
doxy by the following statement : 

" As to my soundness in the faith ; if the subjects I have 
preach 'd upon, in several parts of the province, the sermons I 
have lately published and dispers'd, the constant use I make of 
the Assembly s Shorter Catechism in my own church, and the 
very great value I have always expressed for it ; if this can give 
satisfaction, I have given enough. But if nothing less than a 
manifest invasion upon the rights of conscience, and the im- 
position of my judgment upon others, can give me the title 
of an orthodox minister, I must be content to go without it." 
(Page 51.) 

Fisher responded in a sharp attack upon the principles 
of non-subscription, :j: and seems to have prevailed in 
the Presbytery, and even among the laymen of Smith's 
congregation. The Scotsmen and Irishmen were alarmed 
on account of the progress of heterodoxy in the old 
world, and they were determined to protect themselves 
from error. Accordingly there was a division between 
the two elements. The New England men separated, 
and Bassett and Smith labored together for some time 
in the church at Charleston, which adhered to the side 
of non-subscription, while a section left it to organize a 
Scots congregation. 

* A Preservative against dangerous errors^ Boston, 1729. 

t The Divine Right 0/ Private Judgment Vindicated, Boston, 1730. Also, 
No new thing to be slandered, &=€., Preached at Cainhoy September 27, 1730. 
Boston, 1730. 

X The Divine right of private Judgment set in a true light, Boston, 1731. 



228 AMEEICAN PKESBYTERIANISM. 

II. — DIVISION OF PKESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 

For a considerable time the Irish Presbyterians who 
had settled in Eastern Massachusetts, Maine, and New- 
Hampshire* managed their affairs without a Presbytery. 
It seems that the Presbytery of Londonderry was con- 
stituted in or about the year 1729. The ministers who 
organized it were probably James McGregorief and Ed- 
ward Fitzgerald, sole survivors of the original immigrants, 
Le Mercier, pastor of the Huguenot church of Bos- 
ton, and some others. Soon after its organization, 
March 30, 1730, it ordained John Moorehead ij: to the 
charge of the Presbyterian church he was gathering in 
Boston. The Synod of Philadelphia received a letter 
from " the committee of the new erection at Boston," in 
1730, and Mr. Craighead was ordered to reply. In 1729 
Mathew Clarke arrived from Ireland, and was received 
into the Presbytery. He became the successor of 
McGregorie, at Londonderry.! 

In this same year Samuel Rutherford removed from 
Ireland with a colony and settled in Maine. He 
preached at Bristol, Pemaquid, and Brunswick. It is 
possible that these two ministers took part in the organ- 
ization of the Presbytery of Londonderry. William 
Johnson arrived from Ireland, and was installed at Wor- 
cester; soon afterwards Thompson, a probationer of the 
Presbytery of Tyrone, Ireland, was received, and or- 
dained by the Presbytery, Oct. 10, 1733; and Joseph 



* See p. 189. t See p. 189. McGregorie died March 5, 1729. 

X Moorehead was born at Newton, near Belfast, Ireland, He offered himself to 
the Synod of Philadelphia in 1720 {Records, p. 60), but they declined to recog- 
nize his certificate of ordination, and refused to receive him. (See Letter of Gil- 
lespie in Appendix XXII.) He removed to Boston, and endeavored to organize a 
Presbyterian church there. 

§ The Presbytery of Coleraine reported to the Synod of Ulster that he was 
loosed from his church April 29, 1729, to go to America. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 229 

Harvey, June 5, 1734. John Wilson was settled by 
the Presbytery at Chester, N. H., in 1734.* William 
McLenahan joined Rutherford, in Maine, in 1734, and 
settled at Cape Elizabeth.f 

In 1736 a conflict arose in the Presbytery over the 
case of James Hillhouse. He was an ordained minister 
from Scotland, who had served as pastor of the Congre- 
gational church at New London, Connecticut, for some 
years. An ex parte Council of the neighboring ministers 
ordered him to resign his charge. This he declined to 
do, and resolutely retained his position. He applied to 
the Presbytery of Londonderry for admission. At a 
meeting of the Presbytery in 1736, when but five minis- 
ters were present, he was admitted by a majority of one 
vote, only Harvey and Moorehead of the ministerial 
members voting for him. The majority was gained 
through the votes of the elders. The Presbytery also at 
this meeting ordained David McGregorie, son of the 
Father of the Presbytery. Three of the ministers present 
protested. At the next meeting of the Presbytery the 
contest was renewed. Moorehead, Harvey, Hillhouse, 
and McGregorie were on one side; Le Mercier, Thomp- 
son, Wilson, McLenahan, Johnston, and Rutherford 
were on the other side. The majority refused to recog- 
nize Hillhouse and McGregorie, and they suspended 
Moorehouse and Harvey, thus breaking the Presbytery 
into two bodies.^ The majority were actuated by the 
desire to recognize the validity of the action of the Con- 
gregational Council, and to maintain a good understand- 
ing with the Congregational brethren. Their motives 
were admirable ; but they carried out their views in an 

* He was probably son of the John Wilson who removed from the bounds of 
the Synod of Philadelphia to Boston in 1729. (See p. 191.) 
tSee Blaikie, in /. r., pp. 54, 59, 88, 91. 
X Webster, in /. c, p. 119 ; Blaikie, in /, <:., pp. 83 seq. 



230 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

arbitrary and unreasonable fashion. There can be Httle 
doubt that Moorehead and Harvey acted with great in- 
discretion and with undue haste in taking advantage of 
an accidental majority at a slender meeting of the 
Presbytery, where the majority of the ministers were 
against them ; but this did not justify the refusal to 
recognize the acts of that meeting as valid, or the sus- 
pension of those who had sustained them. 

III. — THE FIRST HERESY TRIAL. 

The movement in favor of strict subscription in the 
Synod of Philadelphia was hurried on by their first her- 
esy trial, which showed that the errors of England, Ire- 
land, and Scotland were on their v/ay to America. In 
1734, Samuel Hemphill was received by the Synod of 
Philadelphia from the Presbytery of Strabane, Ireland.* 
He was invited to preach as an assistant to Andrews in 
Philadelphia, but was soon found to be an unsound and 
unprincipled man. He preached the sermons of Samuel 
Clark, Ibbots, and Foster.f The case was brought be- 

* He was taken under the care of the Presbytery Oct. 14, 1728. He Avas en- 
tered a student at the University of Glasgow— Scoto-Hibernus, March 5, 1716, 
ist class. He subscribed the Westminster Confession of Faith, according to the 
Synodical formula : " I believethe Westminster Confession of Faith to be agree- 
able to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and founded thereupon 
and as such I own it to be the confession of my faith. Subscribed Sam. Hemp- 
hill." (See MS. Minutes Presbytery of Strabane, McGee College Library, 
Londonderry.) He was thereupon licensed and so reported to the Synod, ^lay 

12, 1730. The Presbytery of Strabane reported to the Sub-Synod of Deny, May 

13, 1735, that they had *' ordained Mr. Samuel Hemphill for America, he sub- 
scribed the Confession of faith." {MS. Minutes 0/ Synod 0/ Derry, in Assem- 
bly's CoUege, Belfast.) 

t The plagiarism is explained in Remarks upon the Defence of the Rev. Mr. 
HeniphiWs Obsej-vatwfis in a letter to a friend, &c., by Obadiah Jenkins, Phil- 
adelphia, 1735 : "If you will but take pains to compare, as others have done, 
you'll find that His sermon on Mark xvi. 16 was borrowed (or rather stolen) from 
Dr. Clarke, an open Arian ; His sermons on Gal. vi. 15, on Rom. viii. 18 and on 
Ps. xli. 4 from Clarke's assistant Dr. Ibbotts ; and his sermon on Acts xxiv. 25 
from Mr. Foster." (p. 18.) 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 231 

fore the Commission of Synod, which in that year was 
composed of Andrews, Thomson, Pierson, Craighead, An- 
derson, Boyd, Gillespie, Dickinson, and Cross. Andrews 
presented six Articles charging Hemphill with preaching: 
(i) that Christianity is nothing else but a revival or new 
edition of the laws and precepts of nature, except the 
two sacraments and the mediatorship of Christ ; (2) the 
denial of the necessity of conversion to those born in 
the Church ; (3) against the merits and satisfaction of 
Christ ; (4) that faith was but an assent to, or persuasion 
of, the Gospel on rational grounds ; (5) all honest hea- 
then could be saved ; (6) subversion of justification by 
faith.* Benjamin Franklin espoused Hemphill's cause 
and wrote A Letter to a Friend in the Country, contain- 
ing the substance of a sermon preached at Philadelphia 
to the congregation of the Rev. Mr. Hemphill. This 
was replied to by Dickinson in Remarks upon a Pam- 
phlet entitled A Letter, etc., Philadelphia, 1735, defending 
the commission. Franklin then printed Some Observa- 
tions on the Proceedings of the Commission, etc. This 
was replied to by a Vindication of the Reverend Commis- 
sion of the Synod, Philadelphia, 1735. There was no 
difference of opinion in the Synod as to the case of 
Mr. Hemphill. It was seen by all that he was an Ar- 
minian and Socinian, and was in the Deistic drift. 



* The Commission as actually present were, Ebenezer Pemberton, Moderator, 
Thos. Craighead, Robt. Cross, John Pierson, James Anderson, Geo. Gillespie, 
and John Thomson, April 17, 1735. His sermons on Rom. viii. 38, Acts xxiv. 
25, Mark xvi. 16, Acts x. 34-35, Ps. xli. 4, Eph. iii. 8, were taken in evidence. 
The charges were sustained, and it was unanimously agreed " that Mr. Hemphill 
be suspended from all the parts of his ministerial office until the next meeting of 
our Synod, and that it be referred to the Synod to judge when met whether the 
suspension shall be continued or taken off, or whatever else shall be judged need- 
ful to be done, according as things shall then appear : And accordingly we do 
suspend the said Mr. Samuel Hemphill as above." (See An Extract of the 
Minutes 0/ the Commission of the Synod relating to the affair of the Rev. Mr. 
Samuel Hemphill. Published by order, Philadelphia, 1735.) 



232 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The case is important as the first heresy trial in the 
American Presbyterian Church, and for the interpreta- 
tion of the Adopting Act therein involved, and also for 
the influence it had in increasing the anxiety of the 
Scotch and Irish brethren to prevent such inroads in 
the future. 

Dickinson in his pamphlet gives the Adopting Act in 
an appendix, and refers to it thus : 

" Let it be remembered that we allow no power in any church 
or religious society, to determine what articles of religion are, or 
what are not, essential to salvation, for any but themselves, and 
those that are willing to join with them upon their own prin- 
ciples. We allow of no Confession of Faith as a test of orthodoxy 
for others, but only as a declaration of our own sentiments ; nor 
may this be imposed upon the members of our own society, nor 
their assent required to anything as a condition of their com- 
munion with us, but what we esteem essentially necessary." 
(p. 26.) 

The Vindication calls attention to the claim of Mr. 
Hemphill that 

" All he declared to at his admission into the Synod, were the 
fundamental articles of the Confession of Faith, when it is cer- 
tainly true, and can be attested by above forty members of the 
Synod then present, that he solemnly declared his assent to every 
article in the Westminster Confession of Faith and in the Larger 
and Shorter Catechisms without one exception, and assured us 
he had before subscribed the same in Ireland." (pp. 22-24.)* 

After referring to the Adopting Act and citing its al- 
lowance of scruples, it goes on to say : 

" By which it appears that if Mr. Hemphill had any objection 
to make against anything in the Confession or Catechisms, he 



* This case of Hemphill confirmed the view of Dickinson (see p. 213) that 
*' tho' subscription may shut the door of the church communion against many 
serious and excellent servants of Christ who conscientiously scruple ; yet its 
never like to detect hypocrites, nor keep concealed hereticks out of the church." 
Hemphill had fulfilled the requisitions of the strictest subscriptionists, but in vain. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 233 

should have particularly offered his objections, and submitted it 
to the judgment of the Synod, whether the articles objected 
against were essential and necessary or not : and accordingly, at 
the time of his adopting the Confession and Catechisms, he was 
called upon to propose his objections, if he had any ; but he re- 
plied he had none to make, and that he had before subscribed 

the same in Ireland, as before hinted Nor is it any excuse 

that the Synod have not defined how many fundamental articles 
there are in the Confession, since they have reserved to them- 
selves the liberty to judge upon each occasion what are, and what 
are not, fundamental." 

From this it is clear that the Synod maintained the 
principles of the Adopting Act, and had not abandoned 
it. It was necessary, however, to guard it against the 
perversion that the Synod gave to every individual the 
right to determine what was essential and non-essential. 
On the other hand, it had expressly reserved to itself 
that right. 

The Synod were deeply grieved about this matter, 
and especially that they had been imposed upon by clean 
papers of an Irish Presbytery, and they accordingly 
passed the following overture to be sent to the Synod 
of Ulster: 

" That seeing we are likely to have the most of our supply of 
ministers to fill our vacancies from the North of Ireland, and see- 
ing it is too evident to be denied and called in question, that we 
are in gr^at danger of being imposed upon by ministers and 
preachers from thence, though sufficiently furnished with all 
formalities of Presbyterial credentials, as in the case of Mr. 
Hemphill, .... 

" (i) That no minister or probationer coming in among us from 
Europe, be allowed to preach in vacant congregations until first 
his credentials and recommendations be seen and approven by 
the Presbytery unto which such congregation doth most properly 
belong, and until he preach with approbation before said Presb) - 
tery, and subscribe or adopt the Westminster Confession of 
Faith and Catechisms before said Presbytery, in manner and 



234 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

form as they have done ; and that no minister employ such to 
preach in his pulpit until he see his credentials, and be satisfied, 
as far as may be, of his firm attachment to said Confession, &c., 
in opposition to the new upstart doctrines and schemes, particu- 
larly such as we condemned in Mr. Hemphill's sermons 

" (5) That the Synod would bear testimony against the late too 
common, and now altogether unnecessary practice of some Pres- 
byteries in the North of Ireland, viz : their ordaining men to the 
ministry sine titulo, immediately before they come over hither, 
thereby depriving us of our just rights 

" That in said letter or writing to the General Synod of Ire- 
land, that we earnestly desire, that when ministers or probation- 
ers are about to come from thence to us, they would besides their 
Presbyterial credentials, procure also private letters of recom- 
mendation from some brethren there, who are well known to 
some of our brethren here, to be firmly attached to our good old 
principles and schemes 

" And that the Synod do also advertise the General Synod in 
Ireland, that the ordaining any such to the ministry sine titulo 
before their sending them hither for the future, will be very dis- 
agreeable and disobliging to us." 

It is noteworthy that the Synod does not complain of 
the Presbyteries of Antrim and Dublin, where non-sub- 
scription was the rule, but of the General Synod of Ul- 
ster, from one of whose subscribing Presbyteries, Stra- 
bane, the first heretic had come to the American Presby- 
terian Church.* The spirit of the American Synod is 
worthy of all admiration. They were not disposed to 
allow the Irish Presbyteries to get rid of their trouble- 
some members by consigning them to the care of the 



* The Minutes of the Synod of Ulster, June 15, 1736, contain the following 
record : "A letter from the Synod of Philadelphia in America directed to this 
Synod was now read, ordered that the following brethren Mess. Cobham, Gilb. 
Kennedy, Tho. Kennedy, Jno. Sterling, Alex. Brown, Arch. Maclaine and Geo. 
Cheny do draw up an answer to said letter." The Com. desired instructions. 
These were given them. They brought in the draft of a letter which was ap- 
pi-oved. The clerk was appointed " to transcribe it and subscribe it in the Synods 
name and send it by the first fit occasion." The letter is not recorded in the 
Minutes and has disappeared from the documents of the Synod of Philadelphia. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 235 

American Synod. They preferred to ordain the candi- 
dates themselves, and were not willing to have the Irish 
Presbyteries do their testing and ordination of candi- 
dates for them. The American Synod had adopted a 
constitution, and had taken its position in the sister- 
hood of Churches, and was not willing to be imposed 
upon by foreign Presbyteries. 

IV. — THE STRUGGLE FOR STRICT SUBSCRIPTION. 

The movement for strict subscription advanced in the 
Synod of Philadelphia so far that in 1736 the Synod 
passed a declaratory act of interpretation of their adopt- 
ing act as follows : 

" That the Synod do declare, that inasmuch as we understand 
that many persons of our persuasion, both more lately and for- 
merly, have been offended with some expressions or distinctions 
in the first or preliminary act of our Synod, contained in the 
printed paper, relating to our receiving or adopting the West- 
minster Confession and Catechisms, &c. : that in order to remove 
said offence, and all jealousies that have arisen or may arise in 
any of our people's minds, on occasion of said distinctions and 
expressions, the Synod doth declare, that the Synod have adopted 
& still do adhere to the Westminster Confession, Catechisms, 
and Directory, without the least variation or alteration, and with- 
out regard to said distinctions. And we do further declare, that 
this was our meaning and true intent in our first adopting of said 
Confession as may particularly appear by our adopting act which 
is as followeth : All the ministers of the Synod now present, 
(which were 18 in number, except one that declared himself not 
prepared,) after proposing all the scruples any of them had to 
make against any articles and expressions in the Confession of 
Faith, and Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of 
Divines at Westminster, have unanimously agreed in the solution 
of these scruples, and in declaring the said Confessions and Cat- 
echisms to be the Confession of their faith, except only some 
clauses in the 20th and 23d chapters, concerning which clauses 
the Synod do unanimously declare, that they do not receive 
these articles in any such sense as to suppose the civil magistrate 



236 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

hath a controlling power over Synods with respect to the exer- 
cise of their ministerial authority, or power to persecute any for 
their religion, or in any sense contrary to the Protestant succes- 
sion to the throne of Great Britain. And we hope and desire, 
that this our sy nodical declaration and explication may satisfy 
all our people, as to our firm attachment to our good old received 
doctrines contained in said confession, without the least varia- 
tion or alteration, and that they will lay aside their jealousies 
that have been entertained through occasion of the above hinted 
expressions and declarations as groundless. This overture ap- 
proved neinine contradicente." 

This declaration is skillfully drawn up. It doubtless 
expresses the truth v^^hen it states that, the only scruples 
in the body were against some clauses in Chapters XX. 
and XXIII. of the Confession of Faith ; and that, the 
members of the Synod did really accept and adopt the 
rest of the Standards " without the least variation or 
alteration and without regard to said distinctions" 
(extra-essential and non-essential) ; and that there were 
no scruples in the body with reference to the other doc- 
trines of the Confession. But the question was not with 
reference to the scruples that were allowed against Chap- 
ters XX. and XXIII. ; but whether scruples would be 
allowed against any other chapters or sections at any 
subsequent time. The Adopting Act did not determine 
the extent to which the scruples should be carried, by 
designating particular chapters ; but by distinguishing 
between essential^ and extra-essential and non-essential 
doctrines. It allowed scruples with reference to the 
latter whenever they should arise, and against whatever 
chapter they might arise ; reserving to the Presbytery 
and the Synod the right to determine whether the scru- 
ples were against essential doctrines or non-essential and 
extra-essential doctrines. This act does not antagonize 
the Adopting Act, but it points in the direction of 
strict subscription. It was doubtless so designed, and 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 237 

has been generally so interpreted. It was, however, so 
phrased that liberal subscriptionists, whose scruples as 
to certain sections had been allowed, could hardly op- 
pose it without giving occasion to the suspicion that 
they had other scruples which they had not made known. 
It should also be said that this was really not only a mi- 
nority Synod, but a Synod composed of strict subscrip- 
tionists. The liberal subscriptionists, with their chief, 
Jonathan Dickinson, were absent.* 



* Those present were Thomas Craighead, John Thomson, Joseph Houston, 
Robert Cathcart, Andrew Boyd, Robert Cross, Robert Jamison, Hugh Carhle, 
James Martin, WiUiam Bertram, Alex. Craighead, John Paul, William Tennent, 
Senior, WiUiam Tennent, Junior, all Irishmen ; James Anderson, Hugh Ste- 
venson, Scotsmen ; David Evans, a Welshman, and Jedediah Andrews, Richard 
Treat, and Ebenezer Gould, New England men — or in all 20. Of these only the 
two Tennents and Treat joined the new side ; Alex. Craighead separated from 
both sides ; but Thomson, Cathcart, Boyd, Cross, Jamison, Martin were on the 
old side in the subsequent rupture, and the others, who still remained in the 
Synod, went with them. The absent ones were : Pumroy, Dickinson, Pierson, 
Webb, Pemberton, Hubbel, Horton, Wales, Morgan, Chalker, Nutman, New 
England men ; Gillespie, John Cross, Hutcheson, Scotsmen ; Gilbert Tennent, 
Blair, Hook, Conn, Glascow, Irishmen ; Thomas Evans, Welsh, and Orme, 
English — in all 21. Only two of these, Gillespie and Hugh Conn, subsequently 
joined the old side, and they were absent from the Synod when the division took 
place, and Gillespie was not in sympathy with the Cross protest. All of the re- 
maining 20 who continued with the Synod united with the new side. 

The following ministers, among the above named, had entered the Synod 
since the passage of the Adopting Act. I. From New England : (i) Eleazar 
Wales, a graduate of Yale in 1727, settled at AUentown, N. J., in 1730; (2) 
Richard Treat, graduate of Yale in 1725, settled at Abington, Pa., 1731 ; (3) 
yohn Nutman, graduate of Yale, 1727, settled at Hanover, N. J., in 1730 ; (4) 
Isaac Chalker, graduate of Yale, 1728, settled at Bethlehem, N. Y., in 1734; 
(5) Simeon Horton, graduate of Yale in 1731, settled at Connecticut Farms, N. J., 
in 1734. II. From Scotland : (i) William Orr, entered at University of Glas- 
gow, third class, 1712, received by Presbytery as a student in 1730 ; (2) yohn 
Cross, received as a minister into the Synod in 1732. [He is represented by 
Webster (in /. c. , p. 413) as Scotch. But we have been unable to find him in the 
Registers of the Universities.] III. From Ireland : (i) Robert Cathcart, re- 
ceived as a probationer from Ireland in 1730 ; (2) William Bertram, received as 
a minister from the Presbytery of Bangor, Ireland, in 1732 ; (3) James Martin, 
entered at University of Glasgow, 1728, ordained by the Presbytery of Temple- 
patrick for America in 1733, received into the Synod in 1734 ; (4) Robert Jami- 
son, ordained for America by the Presbytery of Tcmplepatrick in 1733, and re- 



238 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Whether this absence of the Hberal subscriptionists 
was designed at this time (as was the case at the time of 
the rupture*) or not, we cannot tell ; but, at all events, 
they paid no attention to the spirit of partisanship here 
manifested, and waited developments. 

This action of the Synod was doubtless occasioned by 
the Hemphill case ; notwithstanding that the develop- 
ments in it showed that strict subscription was ineffect- 
ual as a bar to the entrance of such heretics into the 
Synod. There had also been a rapid increase of the 
stricter Scotch-Irishmen by large emigration. The Synod 
was becoming more divided in sentiment. 

V. — THE RISE OF METHODISM. 

While the strict subscriptionists were earnestly striv- 
ing to keep out the errors of Deism, Socinianism, and 
Semi-Arianism from the Presbyterian Church of America, 
by ecclesiastical fences ; a new religious force burst forth 
simultaneously in different parts of Great Britain and 
her colonies. A dead orthodoxy and an inefficient ec- 
clesiasticism had taken the place of the Puritan vital 
piety. The religious conflicts had degenerated into ec- 
clesiastical debates and intellectual battles at the ex- 
pense of evangelical faith and growth in grace. Puritan- 
ism strove to overcome this narrowness and deadness, 
and it revived in the form of Methodism. There was a 
simultaneous movement throughout the British empire 
— a wide-spread revival which gradually gathered about 

ceived by the Synod in 1734 ; (5) Hugh Carh'le, minister of the Presbytery of Mon- 
aghan (they report to the Synod of Ulster in 1735 that he had g-one to America), 
received by the Synod in 1735 ; (6) yo/ut Pau!, graduate of the University 
of Edinburgh, 1728 (Presbytery of Route report to the Synod of Ulster that they 
had licensed him in 1732), received by the Synod in 1735 ; (7) Patrick Glascow, 
received and ordained in 1736. IV. Trained by William Tennent : his sons (i) 
John (ordained 1730) and (2) William (ordained 1733), and (3) Samuel Blair, 
ordained 1734. 
* See p. 263. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 239 

the two religious chiefs of Methodism, Wesley and 
Whitefield. 

Methodism is a revival of Puritanism ; it is a genuine 
development of British Christianity ; and yet it was in- 
fluenced very largely by the Pietism of the Continent of 
Europe. But Pietism owed its origin to the impulses 
of Puritanism in the 17th century. Puritanism gave to 
the Reformed churches of Holland and Germany the 
Covenant theology, which became native to the soil in 
Cocceius and Witsius, and that form of vital, experi- 
mental, and practical religion which became so potent an 
influence in the Pietism of Spener, Koelmann, and 
Zinzendorf. It was an appropriate international and 
historical recompense, that the Continent should receive 
British Puritanism and transform it into Pietism ; and 
that subsequently Great Britain and her colonies should 
receive the Pietism of the Continent and transform it into 
Methodism. 

The Holy club was organized at Oxford in 1729, but 
it was not until 1738 that the Wesleys were guided by 
the Moravians into the light, and to the adoption of 
those principles, doctrines, and methods which have been 
the characteristic features of Methodism. 

Methodism in America began in the Dutch Reformed 
Church, under the influence of ^ Jacob Frelinghuysen. Jij^t^yu 
This devout man was born in Lingen, in East Friesland, 
about the year 1691, son of the pastor, J. H. Freling- 
huysen. He was educated under Otto Verbrugge, after- 
wards Professor at Groningen, and was influenced by 
Jacob Koelmann, a well-known Pietist. He arrived in 
New York from Holland toward the close of 1719, or 
the beginning of 1720, and settled at Raritan, Somerset 
Co., N. J. He preached his first sermon there Jan. 31, 
1720. His field of labor extended widely in the neigh- 
boring parts. He ministered for 27 years in this region 



240 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

and was blessed with repeated revivals."^ He insisted 
upon the necessity of regeneration, and the practice of 
piety, in order to participation in the Lord's supper. 
He earnestly strove for the conversion and sanctification 
of men. He came into conflict with Dominie Boel, of 
New York, and a considerable number of his own con- 
gregation whom he calls " Forjnalistsr But the great 
majority of his people adhered to him, and he gained 
many supporters in the ranks of the ministry. Through 
Frelinghuysen the Puritan spirit flowed with new vigor 
to become a fountain of revival for America.f 

Gilbert Tennent was ordained by the Presbytery of Phil- 
adelphia in the autumn of 1726. He went to New Bruns- 
wick and organized an English Presbyterian church in 
the field of Frelinghuysen, who wrote him an encourag- 
ing letter, exhorting him to faithfulness in preaching, to 
earnestness in the pursuit of vital religion, and to the 
development of the experience of grace in his flock. 
With Frelinghuysen and Tennent the revival influences 
began in the Middle colonies. 

In 1734, Gilbert Tennent presented a memorial to the 
Synod of Philadelphia, upon which the following action 
was taken : 

" Mr. Gilbert Tennent having brought some overtures into the 
Synod with respect to the trials of candidates, both for the min- 
istry and the Lord's supper, that there be due care taken in 
examining into the evidences of the grace of God in them, as 



* Messier, Fo7-ty Years at Raritaji^ N. Y., 1873, pp. 165 seq. 

t Whitefield recognizes Frelinghuysen as the originator of the revival. 
" Among others that came to hear the Word, were several ministers whom the 
Lord has been pleased to honour, in making instruments of bringing many sons 
to glory. One was a Dutch Calvinistical minister, named Freeling Housen, Pas- 
tor of a congregation about Four miles off New Brunswick ; he is a worthy old 
soldier of Jesus Christ, and was the Beginner of the great Work, which I trust 
llie Lord is carr>'ing on in these parts." {Coiitimiation 0/ the Rev. Mr. White- 
field's Jouriial^Jroin his embarking after the Eftihargo to his Arrival at Sa- 
vannah in Georgia. 2d edition, London, 17^0, p. 41.) 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 211 

well as of their other necessary qualifications, the Synod doth 
unanimously agree, that as it has been our principle and practice, 
and as it is recommended in the Directory for worship and gov- 
ernment, to be careful in this matter, so it awfully concerns us to 
be most serious and solemn in the trials of both sorts of candidates 
above mentioned. And this Synod does therefore in the name and 
fear of God, exhort and obtest all our Presbyteries to take 
special care not to admit into the sacred office, loose, careless, 
and irreligious persons, but that they particularly inquire into 
the conversations, conduct, and behaviour of such as offer them- 
selves to the ministry, and that they diligently examine all the 
candidates for the ministry in their experiences of a work of sanc- 
tifying grace in their hearts, and that they admit none to the 
sacred trust that are not in the eye of charity serious Christians. 
And the Synod does also seriously and solemnly admonish all the 
ministers within our bounds to make it their awful, constant, 
and diligent care, to approve themselves to God, to their own 
consciences, and to their hearers, serious, faithful stewards of 
the mysteries of God, and of holy and exemplary conversations. 
And the Synod does also exhort all the ministers within our 
bounds to use due care in examining those they admit to the 
Lord's supper." {Records, pp. no, in.) 

The essential principles of Methodism are set forth in 
this memorial, and are justly recognized by the action of 
the Synod as in accordance with the Westminster stand- 
ards. The resolutions were adopted by the Synod as a 
whole, but they were interpreted in different senses, and 
they continued, from this time forth, to divide it. John 
Craig gives us a view of the situation from the '' Old 
Side," in speaking of his first introduction to the Synod 
in 1734: 

" It gave me both grief and joy to see that Synod ; grief, to see 
the small number and mean appearance; joy to see their mutual 
love and good order, and men of solid sense among them, and 
steady to the Presbyterian principles, and against all innovations, 
which began to appear at this Synod, from an overture read pub- 
licly by the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, concerning the receiving of 
candidates into the ministry, and communicants to the Lords 
16 



24:2 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

table — which he imbibed from one Mr. Freylingheysen a low 
Dutch minister, which notions were then openly rejected, but 
afterwards prevailed so far as to divide the Synod, and put the 
church of God here into the utmost confusion." (W. H. Foote, 
Sketches of Virginia, 2d Series, Philadelphia, 1855, p. 30.) 

William Tennent, the father of Gilbert, had removed 
from Bedford, N. Y., to Neshaminy in 1727,* and founded 
the '' Log College," in order to train young men for the 
ministry. The young men that went forth from this 
institution were in hearty sympathy with the principles 
of Methodism. About the Tennents (father and sons) a 
strong body of earnest, devout, and zealous ministers 
and laymen gathered. They complained of the dead 
orthodoxy of the churches, of the lack of genuine piety 
in the ministry, and of the great need of converted 
ministers. They became critical and censorious of those 
who could not follow them. They excited opposition 
and complaint. Robert Cross, of Philadelphia, and John 
Thomson became chiefs of an opposition which stoutly 
opposed the '* new measures " and the " new lights." 

Methodism consolidated itself in the Presbytery of 
East Jersey, which was organized in 1733 out of a por- 
tion of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. In 1738, the 
Presbytery of East Jersey was combined with the Pres- 
bytery of Long Island as the Presbytery of New York ; 
and then the Presbytery of New Brunswick was con- 
structed of ministers from the Presbyteries of New 
York and Philadelphia living in New Jersey west of the 
Raritan River, and the new Presbytery of New Bruns- 
wick became the centre of the Methodist revival. 

VI.— THE STRUGGLE FOR A GODLY MINISTRY. 

The opposition to the Tennents took shape in the 



See p. 187, and also C. W. Baird, Hist, of Bedford Churchy 1882, p. 48. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 243 

Synod of 1738, in a proposal from the Presbytery of 
Lewes, which was adopted by a large majority : 

" That every student who has not studied with approbation, 
passing the usual course in some of the New England, or Euro- 
pean colleges, approved by public authority, shall, before he be 
encouraged by any Presbytery for the sacred work of the minis- 
try, apply himself to this Synod, and that they appoint a Com- 
mittee of their members yearly, whom they know to be well 
skilled in the several branches of philosophy, and divinity, and 
the languages, to examine such students in this place, and find- 
ing them well accomplished in those several parts of learning, 
shall allow them a public testimonial from the Synod, which, till 
better provision be made, will in some measure answer the design 
of taking a degree in the college." {Records, p. 141.) 

Another blow against the Methodists was given in the 
act that, 

" No minister belonging to this Synod shall have liberty to 
preach in any congregation belonging to another Presbytery 
whereof he is not a member, after he is advised by any minister 
of such Presbytery, that he thinks his preaching in that congre- 
gation will have a tendency to procure divisions and disorders, 
until he first obtain liberty from the Presbytery or Synod so 
to do." {Records, p. 138.) 

The Presbytery of New Brunswick brought in a paper 
of objections against both of these acts, in 1739, and the 
Presbytery substituted the following act instead of the 
first: 

" It being the first article in our excellent Directory for the 
examination of the candidates of the sacred ministry, that they 
be inquired of, what degrees they have taken in the university, 
&c. ; and it being oftentimes impracticable for us in these remote 
parts of the earth, to obtain an answer to these questions, of 
those who propose themselves to examination, many of our can- 
didates not having enjoyed the advantage of a university edu- 
cation, and it being our desire to come to the nearest conformity 
to the incomparable prescriptions of the Directory, that our cir- 



244 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

cumltances will admit of, and after long deliberation of the 
most proper expedients to comply with the intentions of the 
Directory, where we cannot exactly fulfil the letter of it ; the 
Synod agree and determine, that every person who proposes 
himself to trial as a candidate for the ministry, and who has not 
a diploma, or the usual certificates from an European or New 
England university, shall be examined by the whole Synod, or its 
commission, as to these preparatory studies, which we generally 
pass through at the college, and if they find him qualified, they 
shall give him a certificate, which shall be received by our 
respective Presbyteries as equivalent to a diploma or certificate 
from the college. This we trust will have a happy tendency 
to prevent unqualified men from creeping in among us, and 
answer, in the best manner our present circumstances are capable 
of, the design which our Directory has in view, and to which by 
inclination and duty, we are all bound to comply to our utmost 
ability." {Records, p. 146.) 

Mr. Gilbert Tennent protested against this Act in be- 
half of himself, William Tennent, Senior; William Ten- 
nent, Junior; Samuel Blair, Eleazer Wales, Charles 
Tennent, ministers ; and Thomas Worthington, David 
Chambers, William McCrea, and John Weir, elders. The 
other Act was also revised, and the Synod determined : 

"that if any minister in the bounds of any of our Presbyteries, 
judge that the preaching of any minister or candidate of a 
neighbouring Presbytery in any congregation, has had a tendency 
to promote division among them, or hinder the orderly settle- 
ment of a gospel ministry, in that case he shall complain to the 
Presbytery in whose bounds the said congregation is, and that 
the minister who is supposed to be the cause of the foresaid di- 
vision, shall be obliged to appear before them, and it shall be 
left to them to determine whether he shall preach any more in 
the bounds of that congregation, and he shall be bound to stand 
to their determination, until they shall see cause to remove their 
prohibition, or the Synod shall have opportunity to take the 
affair under cognizance." {Records, p. 147.) 

This Act was approved nemine contradicente^ and this 
phase of the contest was satisfactorily adjusted ; but the 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 245 

assertion of the Synod's right to examine candidates, 
their interference with the rights of the Presbyteries in 
this respect, and the erection, as it were, of a Synodical 
College, ignoring the Log College, were more serious 
matters. The Presbytery of New Brunswick disregarded 
the Act of the Synod, and licensed John Rowland in 
defiance of its rules. The Synod declared this proceed- 
ing disorderly, admonished the Presbytery, and declined 
to recognize Mr. Rowland as a licentiate. The Synod 
at the same time unanimously appointed its commission, 
with correspondents from every Presbytery, to meet at 
Philadelphia, in the following August, and "prosecute 
the design of erecting a school or seminary of learning." 
Messrs. Pemberton, Dickinson, Cross, and Anderson were 
nominated as representatives, two of which should go to 
Europe to solicit aid from Great Britain. This design 
was not carried out on account of the outbreak of the 
war betwen England and Spain. This mode of adjust- 
ment failed.* 

The controversy over the examination of candidates 
was a practical matter which could not be delayed. It 
really involved a deeper struggle as to the authority 
of the Synod, and also different interpretations of the 
Adopting Act. The Tennents claimed in their Apology 
in 1739: 

" We humbly conceive that the aforesaid acts in their present 
form are founded upon a false hypothesis or supposition, namely, 
that a majority of Synods or other Church judicatories have a 
power committed to them from Christ, to make new rules, acts, 
or canons about religious matters, on this ground or founda- 
tion, that they judge them to be not against or agreeable to the 
Word of God, and serviceable to religion, which shall be binding 
upon those who conscientiously dissent therefrom, under certain 
penalties which are to be inflicted even upon those who judge 
the Acts which they enforce to be contrary to the mind of 



* Records, p. 151. 



246 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Christ, and prejudicial to the interest of His kingdom. This is 
in brief a legislative or law-making power in religious matters, 
and this we wholly disclaim and renounce, for the reasons we 
shall anon mention, and are pleased that we have the Synod's 
concurrence therein in a printed declaration which was sent to 
Ireland some years ago ; that declaration which we apprehend 
worthy of a Protestant body, we propose to maintain inviolably 
in our practice as well as profession." 

George Gillespie, whom Whitefield describes as " an- 
other faithful minister of Jesus Christ,""^ strove to me- 
diate. f 

He charges the New Brunswick Presbytery with 
cutting, carving, and dispensing at its own pleasure with 
the various parts of the trial presented in the West- 
minster Directory for the examination of candidates ; 
and that they objected to the Synod's plan for a public 
synodical college, because it would interfere with the 
private interests of Mr. Tennent and his college. There 
is doubtless truth in both of these charges. But the 
real point in dispute was the authority of the Synod in 
requiring the candidates of the Presbytery to present 
diplomas from either Great Britain or New England, 
or from a committee of Synod, before their licensure by 
Presbytery. This was an insult to the Log College, a 
blow at its very life, and a usurpation by the Synod of 
the rights of the Presbyteries. It was time enough to 
destroy the Log College when the Synod had some- 
thing better to put in its place. The Tennents were 
quite willing at a subsequent time to merge the Log 
College in the College of New Jersey. Mr. Tennent 
agreed to accept the censure of Synod, if the Presbytery 



* Continuation of the Rev. Mr. WhitefielcTs Jourtial from his embarking 
after the embargo, &>€., 2d edition, p. 56, London, 1740. 

t See his Sermon against Divisiojis in ChrisVs Churches, Philadelphia, 1740. 
Appendix, p. vii. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 247 

should violate the rule ; but he declined to present the 
young men for re-examination, and he was right. 

The Presbytery of New Brunswick erred, however, in 
too loose an interpretation of the Adopting Act. It 
certainly did not mean that the Synod could take no 
action that might be against the consciences of a major- 
ity of the lower court, but it meant that the Synod 
could not impose such acts against conscientious scru- 
ples. Indeed the Synod unanimously agreed, Sept. 31, 
1740, ''that the Synod are the proper judges of the 
qualifications of their own members"; and again, "that 
they do not thereby call in question the power of subor- 
dinate Presbyteries to ordain ministers, but only assert 
their own right to judge of the qualifications of their 
own members." But the Presbytery of New Brunswick 
could not be allowed to violate the Westminster Direc- 
tory in a persistent course of action. 

" Then a Presbytery may impose upon its Synod, and by 
bringing in members into the ministry who have not the quahfi- 
cation required in the Standard aforesaid, and these members 
multiplying in a short time, may cast the Standards out of 
doors." (Gillespie, in /. c, p. vii.) 

In 1740, proposals for accommodation were made, but 
in vain ; the majority decided that the Act should stand 
for the present. Gilbert Tennent and his associates 
renewed their protest, and they were joined by John 
Cross, of the Presbytery of New Brunswick; Geo. Gil- 
lespie and Alexander Hutcheson, of the Presbytery of 
New Castle ; Richard Treat, of the Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia ; and Alexander Craighead, of the Presbytery of 
Donegal ; making eleven ministers in all, besides a num- 
ber of ruling elders, constituting a body formidable in 
numbers and influence. There was a difference of 
opinion on this subject of the training of ministers, in 



248 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANiSM. 

all American denominations of Christians. As Dr. 
Charles Hodge appropriately says : '-^ 

" Whatever unworthy motive may, on either side, have 
mingled with better feelings, there is no doubt that the major- 
ity were influenced in the adoption of the rule in question, by a 
sincere desire to secure an adequately educated ministry, and 
the minority by an equally conscientious belief, that the opera- 
tion of the rule would be inimical to the progress of religion in 
the church." 

The Dutch Reformed and German Reformed Churches 
had the same difficulties to contend with ; and they 
divided in 'similar ways upon the same subject. Fre- 
linghuysen, of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Dors- 
tius, of the German Reformed Church, were obliged to 
enter upon the work of training candidates for the 
ministry in order to supply the destitute churches. 
The New England colleges were unable to supply the 
demands of the Middle colonies for ministers. It was 
impossible to secure a sufficient number of efficient and 
pious ministers from .the mother countries who were 
willing to engage in missions in America.f Not a few 
godly ministers were secured. But not a few unworthy 
men came of their own accord, and intruded themselves 
upon churches that were eager for ministers of the 
gospel, and by their incompetence or immorality hin- 
dered the progress of the gospel. J 



* Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of 
America^ Part II., Philadelphia, 1851, p. 109. 

t The author has examined carefully the Records of the Churches and the 
Missionary Societies of Great Britain, and has been deeply impressed with the 
earnest and persistent efforts which were made by the churches of Great Britain 
to procure missionaries for America. It was impossible to secure them in 
sufficient numbers. The mother churches are worthy of all praise. They acted 
in a noble and generous manner. (See pp. 163, 167, 170, 172, 193, 223.) 

X See letter of Gillespie, in the Appendix XXII. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 240 

The circumstances of the American Churches seemed 
to the more active spirits to require that candidates 
should be trained by the American Churches themselves 
in as thorough a manner as possible. They rightly felt 
that it would be a serious restraint to the progress of 
the gospel in America, if godly young men should be 
discouraged from prosecuting their studies for the minis- 
try or required to go to Great Britain or New England 
for their education. 

The Dutch Reformed Church was torn asunder in 
1754 by the same question of ministerial education, min- 
gled with other questions like to those which agitated 
the Synod of Philadelphia.'^ The Tennent party were 
the real American party. They were not willing to ad- 
here to the letter, that killeth, when the entire energies 
of the church were required to meet the wants of the 
multitudes hungering for the gospel. The Westminster 
Directory was made for the church, and not the church 
for the Directory. The circumstances of the country 
required that some modifications should be made. 

The disagreement on this subject stirred up conflicts 
with regard to ministers' preaching out of their bounds. 
The Tennent party cannot be excused for their irregu- 
larities in this matter. Their attitude to their brother 
ministers in the Synod, in openly charging them with 
lack of piety and consecration, is indefensible. Their 
habit of intrusion into the flocks of other ministers was 
to the last degree offensive and intolerable. It is not 
surprising that Gilbert Tennent's sermon " on the danger 
of an unconverted ministry," which was preached at 
Nottingham, Pa., in 1740, should have aroused the hos- 
tility of his opponents to the highest degree. 



* E. T. Corwin, Manual of the Reformed Church in America, 3d edition, 
N. Y., 1879, pp. 32 seq. 



250 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

In our judgment, they were unwise in allowing them- 
selves to become so excited about it. They were open 
to the criticism which Tennent makes in his defence :" 

" I humbly conceive our Author is mistaken when he says, that 
the Notingham Sermon causes Contentions : No, the true cause is 
graceless ministers opposing it. Me thinks it would be more to 
their credit prudently to let it alone upon their own Account, for 
when they keep muttering, growling and scolding at it, it does 
but give people ground to suspect they are of that unhappy tribe 
and party themselves, which is therein detected and censured." 

The disorder created by the Tennents was owing 
chiefly to their habit of accusing members of their own 
Synod of being graceless, without bringing the evidence 
before the body, in the form of valid charges, as they 
were repeatedly urged by the Synod to do. There is a 
plausible excuse for this in the fact that the differences 
were so radical that a judicial trial of them would have 
been impossible. Subsequent events showed that there 
were two radical and disorderly parties in the Synod, 
and that the Presbytery of New York and such godly 
ministers as the Scotchmen, Gillespie and Hutcheson, 
were powerless to keep the peace. 

VII. — THE GREAT AWAKENING. 

In the meanwhile Methodism had greatly advanced in 
power and influence in America. Jonathan Edwards 
had independently adopted its principles and methods, 
and was blessed with a powerful revival at Northampton 
in 1734 and 1735 : 

" Whenever he met the people in the sanctuary, he not only 
saw the house crowded, but every hearer earnest to receive the 



* Tka Examiner Examined^ or Gilbert Tennent Harmonious. In Answer to 
a pamphlet entitled, the Examiner or Gilbert against Gilbert, Philadelphia, 
1743, p. 146. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 251 

truth of God, and often the whole assembly dissolved in tears : 
some weeping for sorrow, others for joy, and others from com- 
passion. In the months of March and April, when the work of 
God was carried on with the greatest power, he supposes the 
number, apparently of genuine conversions, to have been at least 
four a day, or nearly thirty a week, take one week with another, 
for five or six weeks together." {Life of Edwards, p. 123 in 
Works of President Edwards, N. Y., 1829, Vol. I., also J. Tracy, The 
Great Awakening, Boston, 1842, pp. 112 seq^ 

Joseph Bellamy, Eleazar Wheelock, Benjamin Colman, 
Thomas Prince, and others became attached to the move- 
ment in New England.* There v^^as an informal holy club 
at Yale College in 1733. Many of the subsequent leaders 
of Methodism in America were there about that time ; 
such as Joseph Bellamy, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Pomeroy, 
James Davenport, and Jonathan Barber. Eleazar 
Wheelock was accused of enthusiasm and religious dis- 
orders while in college. But he says : 

" I never held, nor pretended to experience that kind of teach- 
ing which Calvinistic divines call Enthusiasm. The grand 
points which I was opposed in, were the absolute necessity of 
divine teaching in order to a right and effectual understanding of 
divine things — and the absolute necessity of divine influence and 
the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ in order to a right and ac- 
ceptable performance of duty to God ; that the graces of the 
Spirit may be so sensible and evident, as to be matter of assur- 
ance to the subjects of them, that they are passed from death 
unto life. These were the principles chiefly disputed, and to 
prove that I did not differ from approved divines I used frequently 
to quote and appeal to Mr. Flavel, part of whose works I had 
with me. And when the report was spread that I was enthusias- 
tical I made a challenge upon all who had been my opponents 
to mention one point wherein I had differed in principle from Mr. 
Stoddard or Mr. Flavel ; and it was frankly allowed by my most 



* E. H. Gillett, President Wheelock ajtd tJie Great Revival ; President 
Wheelock and His Cotemporaries^ Atner. Pres. Review^ 1869, pp. 281 seq.^ 
and pp. 520 seq. 



252 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

zealous opponents, that I was not a greater enthusiast than Mr. 
Flavel was, and that I had not vented any principles which he 
did not justify." (E. H. Gillett, President Wheelock and Dr, 
Chawicy, Amer. Pres. Review, 1871, p. 12.) 

Whitefield came over to head the movement in 1739, 
and preached with wonderful power and success through- 
out the colonies. All the American Methodists rallied 
about him, and the churches were revived and enlarged. 
But unfortunately the revival occasioned strife and sepa- 
ration in most of the American denominations of Chris- 
tians. In Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland the 
Presbyterian forces were divided into two hostile camps. 
But in New Jersey and New York, embraced in the Pres- 
byteries of New Brunswick and New York, the minis- 
ters and churches were unanimous in support of Method- 
ism. Indeed, the Presbytery of New York were so 
busy with their revived congregations that they neglected 
the Synod, and kept apart from its strifes. It will be 
instructive to tarry by some of these churches in order 
that we may apprehend the strength and blessedness of 
this movement. We are informed in a letter from the 
Presbyterian congregation of New York City to the Bos- 
ton ministers and churches in 1746 r^ 

" That the congregation for some years after Mr. Pemberton's 
settlement continued poor and small, ordinarily consisting of not 
more than 70 or 80 persons old and young. Large arrears of 
salary, annually increasing, unpaid, and the Building unfinished, 
and our minister greatly discouraged. Till at length, six of our 
eight windows, (which had continued covered with Boards about 
twenty years) were glazed. And about the year 1739 the show- 
ers of Heaven began to descend upon the congregation, a large 
increase of gifts were bestowed on the minister, and the divine 
presence manifestly appeared among the people, so that upon 
our doors it might be truly inscribed Jehovah ShamiTiah, the 
Lord is there. The numbers of the congregation greatly in- 

* See the MS. Records of the Trustees of the Congreg-ation, p. 26. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 253 

creased and the floor of the building became quite full, which 
some of us had for a long time scarce hoped to live to see. 
About four years ago the call for galleries was very loud and 
pressing. The building of three galleries was undertaken at 
once, and they seemed to be full as soon as finished and the floor 
below as full as before. The cry is now as great for room as ever. 
The voice of Providence seems to be, lengthen your cords, 
strengthen your stakes, open your mouth wide and I will fill it." 

Whitefield preached for Pemberton in November, 1739. 
Pemberton wrote to him soon after : 

" I was heartily sorry that the Disorder of a Cold should hin- 
der me from waiting upon you in the Jerseys : But am in hopes 
it was ordered by Divine Providence for the best. I found the 
next day, that you had left the town under a deep and universal 
concern : Many were greatly affected, and I hope abiding impres- 
sions are left upon some. — Some that were before very loose and 
profligate, look back with shame upon their past lives and con- 
versations, and seem resolved upon a thorough reformation. 
I mention these things to strengthen you in the blessed cause 
you are engaged in, and support you under your abundant 
labours. — When I heard so many were concerned for their eternal 
welfare, I appointed a lecture on Wednesday evening, tho' it was 
not an usual season. And tho' the warning was short we had 
a numerous and attentive audience. — In short, I cannot but hope 
your coming among us has been the means of awakening some 
among us to a serious sense of practical religion, and may be the 
beginning of a good work in this secure and sinful place." {Con- 
tinuation of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield' s Journal from his embark- 
ing after the Embargo to his Arrival at Savannah, 2d edition, 
p. 51, London, 1740.) 

Whitefield preached again in New York in the spring 
and in the autumn of 1740 with wondrous power. He 
tells us that on November 2d, 

"As I went to meeting, I grew weaker and weaker, and when 
I came into the pulpit, I could have chose to be silent rather 
than speak. But, after I had begun, the Spirit of the Lord gave 
me freedom, till at length it came down like a mighty rushing 



254 AMERICAN PRESBYTEEIANISM. 

wind, and carried all before it. Immediately the whole congre- 
gation was alarmed. Shrieking, crying, weeping and wailing were 
to be heard in every corner. Men's hearts failing them for fear, 
and many falling into the arms of their friends. My soul was 
carried out till I could scarce speak any more. A sense of God's 
goodness overwhelmed me."* 

Similar revival influences were felt in the churches on 
Long Island, and in Eastern and Western New Jersey, 
in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and indeed wherever 
Mr. Whitefield and the Methodists, who associated with 
him, went. The Presbyterian ministers of the Presby- 
teries of New York and New Brunswick were unanimous 
in their co-operation with him ; but the Presbyteries of 
Donegal, New Castle, Lewes, and Philadelphia were di- 
vided. The most influential ministers, under the lead 
of Robert Cross, of Philadelphia, Francis Alison, of 
New Castle, and John Thomson, of Lewes, were opposed 
to the Methodist movement. 

It is probable that these Scotch-Irish ministers were 
influenced by the conflicts in Scotland which brought 
about the Secession. These conflicts originated from 
various causes, among which we may mention the Abju- 
ration oath, the Simson case, abuse of patronage, but 
especially the Marrow controversy. The Marrow of 
Modern Divinity, a Puritan treatise by Edward Fisher 
(originally published in 1644 as a middle way between 
Legalism and Antinomianism), was republished, with a 
preface by James Hogg, in 171 8. The General Assem- 
bly of the Church of Scotland, in 1720, condemned cer- 
tain errors in it. Against this action, Thomas Boston, 
Ebenezer Erskine, Ralph Erskine, and nine others, re- 



* Continuation of the Rev. Mr. WhitefielcTs Journal^ the 7th Journal, Lon- 
don, 1741, p. 57. Dr. Charles Hodge is certainly mistaken in representing that 
"no ver}' remarkable results" attended hi? ministry in New York. {Constitu- 
tional History^ n., p. 35). 



AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM DIVIDED. 255 

monstrated in 1721. After several years of heated con- 
troversy on the several points of faith and practice, Eb- 
enezer Erskine, William Wilson, Alexander Moncrief, 
and James Fisher were suspended from the office of the 
ministry and loosed from their pastoral charges, in the 
autumn of 1732. These four ministers protested and 
declared a Secession, "not from the constitution of the 
Church of Scotland, but from \h.^ prevailing party in her 
judicatories y * 

They constituted themselves The Associate Presbytery 
Dec. 6, 1733 ; in Febr., 1734, issued a Testimony to the doc- 
trine^ worship, discipline, and government of the Church 
of Scotland, and began a work of great spiritual power, 
accompanied with frequent revivals. They co-operated 
with Whitefield at first, but subsequently finding that 
they could not agree with him in his views of church 
government, discipline. Christian union, and toleration, 
they became hostile. Accordingly, British Methodism sep- 
arated itself into three organizations — Wesleyan Meth- 
odists, Whitefield Methodists, and the Secession Church 
of Scotland. 

Moreover, Methodism worked powerfully in the Estab- 
lished Church of Scotland. John Willison, John Gillies, 
John Row, and others, in 1744, issued a Fair and Impar- 
tial Testimony,\ defending the National Church against 
the charges of the Secession Presbytery, and advocating 
Whitefield and his work against them. It speaks approv- 
ingly of the remarkable instances of the effusions of 



* John Brown, Hist. Accoimt of the Rise and Progress of the Secession^ 4th 
edition, Glasgow, 1780, p, 23. 

t This important tract was pubhshed, Edinburgh, 1744, under the Full Title : 
A Fair and impartial Testimony essayed in Jiame of a 7iuniber of i7iinisters, 
elders, and Christian people of the Church of Scotland, unto the laudable 
principles., wrestlings, and Attainments of that Church; and against the 
Backslidings, Corruptions, Divisions, arid prevailing evils, both of the former 
and present ti?}ies^ &'c. Attested and Adhered unto by sundry ministers. 



256 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

God's Spirit abroad and at home ; of the revivals at 
Northampton, in New England, in the. Jerseys, and in 
Pennsylvania, and of Mr.Whitefield's work in Scotland. It 
also dwells upon the revival at Cambuslang in 1742, and 
in the neighboring parishes of '' Kilsyth, Calder, Kirkin- 
tolloch, Campsie, Cumbernauld, Gargunnock, Baldernock, 
Muthill, and many other parishes, and even in Edinburgh 
and Glasgow." It bears testimony to it '' as a glorious 
work of the Spirit of God, which He hath been pleased 
to send in his sovereign free mercy, in a time of great 
infidelity, formality and backsliding, to glorify his own 
name, by awakening, convincing, humbling, converting, 
comforting, reviving, strengthening and confirming 
many souls thro' the Land." ^ 

The Tennents and their friends naturally, as Presby- 
terians, sympathized with the Erskines and the Secession 
movement in Scotland. f 

A great controversy arose in America,:}: and soon ex- 



* In /, c, p. 103. 

t This was recognized by Mr. Whitefield so soon as he met Mr. Tennent. In 
his Journal (^Co7itinuation from his Embarking after the Embargo^ 2d edition, 
London, 1740, p. 31) he describes "Mr. Tennent, an old grey-headed disciple 
and soldier of Jesus Christ. He keeps an Academy about 20 miles off Philadel- 
phia, has been blessed with four gracious sons, three of whom have been and 
still continue to be eminently useful in the church of Christ. He brought three 
pious souls along with him, and rejoiced me by letting me know how they had 
been evil spoken of for their master's sake. He is a great friend to Mr. Erskitie 
of Sccila7id, and, as far as I can find, both he and his sons are secretly despised 
by the generaUty of the Synod, as Mr. Erski7te and his brethren are hated by the 
Judicatories of Edinburgh^ and as the Methodist preachers are by their brethren 
in Engta}idy 

X See The Querists, or An Extract of sundry passages taken out of Mr. 
Whitefield's printed Servians^ Philadelphia, 1740, by Thomas Evans, cf New 
Castle. This was answered by C^jnuel Blair in A Particular consideration of 
a Piece, entitled The Querists, Philadelphia, 1741. This was followed by A 
Short Refly to Mr. Whitefield' s letter ivhich he wrote i7i answer to the Querists, 
Philadelphia, 1741 ; The Exami7ter, by Philalethes, Boston, 1743, replied to by 
Gilbert Tennent in The Exa7/iiner Exa77iined, Philadelphia, 1743. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 257 

tended throughout the colonies.'^ In New England the 
struggle was fierce and long. The Boston ministers, 
headed by Colman, generally favored the revival ; but 
the Connecticut ministers were more divided. Yale 
College led the opposition, offended by some severe 
criticisms upon it on the part of Whitefield.-f 

Even the little band of Presbyterians in New England 
was divided. John Caldwell preached a sermon at New 
Londonderry, October 14, 1741, against the Methodists, 
which was immediately answered by David McGregorie 
in a sermon on the same text.:j: These represented the 
two parties into which the Presbytery had been divided 
in I736.§ 



* In South Carolina Josiah Smith defended Whitefield against his opponents 
in The character^ preaching ^c. 0/ the Rev . Mr. George Whilejield^ impai tially 
represented and supported^ m a Sermon preached in Charlestown^ Soicth Caro- 
lina^ Mch. 26, 1740, with a Preface by the Rev. Dr. Colman and Mr. Cooper of 
Boston, N. E., Boston, 1740. (See pp. 225 seq.) 

t The following; pamphlet was issued : The Declaration of the Rector and 
Tutors of Yale College in New Haven against the Reverend Mr. George 
Whitefield^ his principles and designs. In a letter to him. Boston, 1745. 
The following extract will show the points at issue: "And if all unconverted 
ministers must be discarded and separated from, a new sett or supply must 
necessarily be introduced ; these must be such as you judge to be converted, or 
otherwise there will be the same necessity, that you should be strengthened to lift 
up your voice against unconverted ministers, as there was before. Our colleges 
can do but a very little towards such an extraordinaiy supply ; especially, since 
as you say, the light in them is but darkness, even thick darkness that may be 
felt. This supply must therefore be either of exhorters or foreigners : you pub- 
lickly told the people of New England, that they might expect, in a little time 
some supply from your orphan house ; and you told the Rev. Mr. Edwards of 
North-Hampton, that you intended to bring over a number of young men from 
England to be ordained by the Tennents. Whether any more were to come 
from Scotland or Ireland, we think is not material. And it has been the con- 
stant practice of the Tennents, and their Presbytery, of late years, to send minis- 
ters to supply the separation in N. England particulai-ly Mess. Finly, Sacket, 
Blair, Treat and sundry others, to preach to the separation at Milford, New 
Haven, &c. and some of them shewed written orders for it, from the Presbytery." 
(p. 10.) 

X This latter was published as a defence, Boston, 1742, and subsequently 
republished in Scotland. 

§ See p. 229. 

17 



258 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

There can be no doubt that there were serious dis- 
orders connected with the revival movement, especially 
in connection with James Davenport, of Southold, and 
several other excitable persons, which wrought mischief 
and separation, especially in Connecticut. We do not 
find this separation to any extent in New York, Eastern 
New Jersey, or Massachusetts, where the revival was 
conducted by discreet men like Dickinson, Pemberton, 
Colman, Prince, and others ; but chiefly in Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, where the re- 
vival was opposed by ministers who failed to apprehend 
the work of God, and who did not discern the gracious 
effects of the Divine Spirit in the midst of the enthu- 
siasm. John Willison, Gillies, and the Methodists of 
the Established Church of Scotland correctly appre- 
hended this from a careful inspection of the revivals 
in Scotland and elsewhere. With regard to the Ameri- 
can revival they wisely say : 

*•' It is to be regretted, that the work began to be much 
clouded by some zealous but imprudent ministers, and a sett of 
illiterate exhorters, who went through the country preaching 
and venting errors, and sometimes very rash censures against 
their brethren, and some of them pretending to visions, prophecy, 
and great attainments, and running into several extravagances, 
upon which account some have endeavoured to expose the 
whole work as Ent/iuszasm and Dehtsion. But it being Satan's 
ordinary way, when he sees Christ's Kingdom advancing in a 
place, to exert himself to bring a reproach upon Religion, by 
leading some zealous Professors of it into errors and disorders ; 
this can prove no more against the Work in general, than the Delu- 
sion of the Anabaptists and Fifth monarchy me7i did against the 
Reformation. But these clouds did not long continue." {A 
Fair and Impartial Testimony, &>c., Edinburgh, 1744, p. loi.) 

At this time, James Davenport was not a member of 
the Synod of Philadelphia. He did not unite with the 
Synod of New York until after he had repented of his 



AMEKICAN PRESBTTERIANISM DIVIDED. 259 

follies and had become a different man. There is no 
evidence that the revival in the Presbyterian churches 
was accompanied with any such disorders and errors of 
doctrine. The ''old side" show throughout that they 
were opposed to the revival itself, and the Methodist 
movement in general. There was the less excuse for 
their continued opposition in view of the fact that the 
leaders of American Methodism promptly opposed the 
enthusiasts who brought disgrace on the genuine work 
of Revival. 

Jonathan Dickinson, Gilbert Tennent, and Jonathan 
Edwards wrote discriminating tracts upon the sub- 
ject, which will remain for all time as the source of 
information with reference to the true spirit and charac- 
ter of American Methodism.* 

Dr. Charles Hodge gives the following judgment 
upon the revival : 

" Notwithstanding all the disorders and other evils attendant 
on this revival, there can be no doubt that it was a wonderful 
display, both of the power and grace of God, This might be 
confidently inferred from the judgment of those who as eyewit- 
nesses of its progress, were the best qualified to form an opinion 
of its character. The deliberate judgment of such men as Ed- 
wards, Cooper, Colman, and Bellamy, in New England ; and of 
the Tennents, Blair, Dickinson, and Davies, in the Presbyterian 
Church, must be received as of authority on such a subject. 



*A Display o/God^s special Grace, in a/a7niliar dialogue between a utinisler 
and a ge7itleman of his congregation about the work of God, in the correction 
and conversion of sinners, so remarkably of late begun and going on in these 
American parts, wherein the objections against some uncommo}i appeara?tces 
amongst us are distinctly considered, mistakes rectifyed, and the work itself 
particularly proved to be from the Holy Spirit. With a?i Additiott, in a sec- 
ond conference, relating to sundry Antino}nian principles, beginni7ig to obtain 
in so7ne places, [fonathan Dickinson^ Boston, 1742 ; Thoughts on the Re- 
vival of Religion in New England. By Jonathan Edwards, 1740 ; Some Ac- 
count of the Prificiples of the Moraviajis, etc. By Gilbert Tennent, 1742, Lon- 
don, 1743. 



260 AMERICAN PEESBYTERIAXISM. 

These men were not errorists or enthusiasts. They were devout 
and sober-minded men, well versed in the Scriptures and in the 
history of religion. They had their faults, and fell into mistakes ; 
some of them very grievous ; but if they are not to be regarded 
as competent witnesses as to the nature of any religious excite- 
ment, it will be hard to know where such witnesses are to be 
found." (Chas. Hodge, Constitutional History, II., p. 46.) 

Benjamin Trumbull sums up the doctrines of the 
American Methodists in the following statement, also 
approved by Dr. Hodge : 

"The doctrines preached by those famous men, who were 
owned as the principal instruments of this remarkable revival of 
God's work, were the doctrines of the reformers ; the doctrine of 
original sin, of regeneration by the supernatural influence of the 
divine Spirit, and of the absolute necessity of it, that any man 
might bear good fruit, or ever be admitted into the kingdom of 
God; effectual calling; justification by faith wholly on account 
of the imputed righteousness of Christ ; repentance towards God 
and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ ; the perseverance of 
saints ; the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in them, and its divine 
consolations and joys." (Benj. Trumbull, Co7nplete History of 
Connecticut. Hartford, 1797, II., p. 158. Charles Hodge, in /. c, 
p. 47-) 

American Methodism was a revival of British Puritan- 
ism and Protestantism. It was especially distinguished 
for the stress laid upon regeneration, the personal expe- 
rience of grace, and a fruitful life. It bore within it the 
principle of evangelization, and made that principle more 
efficient than ever before for the conversion of men. It 
aroused British Protestantism to a wondrous Christian 
activity, which has been its chief characteristic ever since. 
American Methodism produced two great theologians, 
Jonathan Dickinson and Jonathan Edwards, who re- 
main as the best exponents of the theology of the 
eighteenth century. 

Jonathan Edwards is the greatest divine America has 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 261 

yet produced ; and he has found no equal in Great 
Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He 
was at once recognized as the teacher of the Calvinistic 
Methodists of Great Britain, and has become the master 
spirit in theology to the Presbyterian and Congrega- 
tional world of the nineteenth century in Scotland, as 
well as in England and America. Jonathan Edwards is 
the father of modern British and American theology, not 
so much in those metaphysical questions to which his 
name is so frequently attached, as in those characteristic 
doctrines of the Methodist movement which he so suc- 
cessfully formulated and explained. He is the real the- 
ologian of Methodism, and no one has yet risen to take 
his place, because Great Britain is still in the course of 
religious development which was started by Methodism. 



VIIL—THE RUPTURE OF THE SYNOD. 

The Synod of Philadelphia was greatly divided on sev- 
eral important points of doctrine, discipline, and prac- 
tice. It needed but a slight aggravating cause to bring 
about a rupture. This was afforded by the case of Alex- 
ander Craighead. The Presbytery of Donegal was the 
stronghold of the opponents of Methodism and the ad- 
vocates of strict subscription. Seven of the nine minis- 
ters were on that side, over against Alexander Craighead 
and David Alexander on the other. But the two Meth- 
odists were determined men and would not yield to 
their opponents. They were indeed extreme in their 
views and measures, and were more in accord with the 
covenanting Presbytery of Scotland than with the Eng- 
lish or American Methodists. Alexander Craighead was 
charged by Francis Alison with intrusion into his con- 
gregation, and also by several members of his own con- 
gregation : 



262 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

"I. With absenting himself from Presbytery. 2. With impos- 
ing new terms of communion on his people at the baptism of 
their children. 3. With excluding a person from the commun- 
ion, because he seemed to be opposed to his new methods. 4. 
With asserting that the ministers of Christ ought not to be con- 
fined to any particular charge. The new term of communion 
here complained of was, no doubt, the adoption of the solemn 
league and covenant, which it seems he and Mr. John Cross, or 
the Presbytery of New Brunswick, were often in the habit of im- 
posing on their people." (C. Hodge, Cojistitiitioiial History, li., 
p. 141.) 

The Presbytery suspended Mr. Craighead, but he de- 
clined to recognize their authority on the ground that 
they were all his accusers, and could not be his judges. 
At the same time the Presbytery of Donegal declined to 
recognize David Alexander as a member of Presbytery 
until he gave them satisfaction for his disorderly con- 
duct, and refusal to submit to their government. 

At the meeting of the Synod in May, 1741, the case 
of Craighead was made a test case by both parties. 
Francis Alison renewed his complaint of intrusion before 
the Synod, and was supported by the Presbytery of 
Donegal and all the opponents of the Methodists. The 
Methodists also rallied to the defence of Craighead, and 
it became clear after three days' heated debate that there 
was no prospect of agreement ; and the Synod adjourned 
Saturday, May 30th, in great disorder.'^ On Monday, 
June 1st, Robert Cross brought in a Protestation signed 
by twelve ministers.f They protested against eleven 
members. :{: The body seemed evenly divided, and both 



* Charles Hodge, in /. ^., II., pp. 146 seq. 

t The Protestation is given in the Appendix XXVII. 

X The twelve signers of the Protestation were all Irishmen, with the possible 
exception of Samuel Thomson, whose origin is uncertain. They were : Robert 
Cross, of the Presbytery of Philadelphia ; John Thomson, Adam Boyd, John 
Elder, Richard Zanchy, Samuel Cavin, Samuel Thomson, and John Craig, of 
the Presbyteiy of Donegal ; James Martin and Robert Jamieson, of the Presby- 



AMERICAN PRE3BYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 263 

parties claimed the majority ; but the majority, embrac- 
ing Gillespie, Hutcheson, McHenry, Elmer, and An- 
drews, who were present ; and twelve ministers of the 
Presbytery of New York, who were absent, and doubt- 
less others, really occupied an intermediate position. 

If these absentees had been present at this meeting of 
the Synod and had thrown their great influence into the 
scale of good order, the separation might have been pre- 
vented. Twelve ministers by a vigorous onset carried a 
Synod four times their number, owing to the absence of 
nearly half the body. 

Jedediah Andrews was chosen Moderator, and thus 
there remained but two votes which had not apparently 
committed themselves to the one side or the other.* It 
seems that Mr. Elmer was absent at the crisis and Mc- 
Henry and Gillespie did not vote. This gave the Pro- 
testers a slender majority of twelve to tenf in the min- 
isterial vote. It is astonishing that a Synod of 47 min- 
isters should have been broken up in this fashion, by a 
majority of two in a vote of 22. It shows how import- 
ant it is that mediators should be at hand in the crisis 
and keep the peace by armed and vigorous neutrality. 



tery of Lewes ; and Francis Alison and Robert Cathcart, of the Presbytery of 
New Castle. Those protested against were especially : WiUiam Tennent, Jr., aud 
Richard Treat, of the Presbytery of Philadelphia ; Alexander Craighead and 
David Alexander, of the Presbytery of Donegal ; and the entire Presbytery of 
New Brunswick, Wilham Tennent, Senior, Gilbert Tennent, and Eleazar Wales ; 
and Charles Tennent and Samuel Blair, of the Presbytery of New Castle, or 
nine of those present at this meeting of the Synod. Besides these George Gil- 
lespie and Alexander Hucheson, of the Presbytery of New Castle, had signed 
the Protest with the Tennents in the previous year, and were also protested 
against, and it was expected that Francis McHenry, of the Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia, would join them. 

* Gillespie and Hucheson had signed the Protest of 1740, and certainly could 
not vote for this Protestation, which condemned them when it claimed "that 
all our protesting brethren have at present no right to sit and vote as members 
of this Synod." 

t C. Hodge, in /. c, II., p. 157. 



264 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

There were two disorderly parties, both of them violat- 
ing the rules of Presbyterial discipline and good order. 
The Protestation was an outrageous piece of assumption ; 
tvv'elve ministers protested that the ten signers of the 
protest of 1640 had no right to sit and vote as members 
of the Synod. They give their reasons in the form of a 
judgment, without any attempt at a process before an 
ecclesiastical court. These reasons cover the grounds of 
dispute as to subscription, Presbyterial discipline, and 
the principles and practices of Methodism. The strict 
subscriptionists and rigid disciplinarians of the Synod 
were at last forced to revolutionary practices which tran- 
scended any irregularities which had been committed by 
their opponents. Dr. Charles Hodge gives the following 
careful opinion of this transaction : 

" It is plain from this statement that not even the forms of an 
ecclesiastical, much less of a judicial proceeding, were observed 
at this crisis. There was no motion, no vote, not even a presid- 
ing officer in the chair. It was a disorderly rupture. A number 
of the Synod rise and declare they will no longer sit with certain 
of their brethren unless they satisfy their complaints. The 
members complained of answer, You are dissatisfied and are the 
minority, therefore you must go out ; and then a confused rush 
is made to the roll to see which was the stronger party. Such 

was the schism of 1741 It is presumed there can be but 

one opinion as to this whole proceeding. There were but two 
courses which those who felt aggrieved by the conduct of Mr. 
Tennent and his friends could properly take. The one was to 
appeal to reason and the word of God, and rely on those means 
to correct the evil of which they complained. It is true, this 
would at that time have been like talking to a whirlwind ; still, 
when the storm was over, truth and reason would have resumed 

their sway Their secojid course was regularly to table 

charges against the New Brunswick Presbytery. There was the 
less reason for departing from this course as there was every 
prospect of its being successful." (C. Hodge, Constitutional His- 
tory, II., pp. 158-9.) 



AMERICA AN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 265 

John Thomson, one of the chiefs of the " old side," 
wrote a book to advocate his high notions of ecclesiasti- 
cal authority over against the two papers of the New 
Brunswick ministers, namely, the Apology of May, 1739, 
and the Protest of May, 1740.* This brings out clearly 
the differences between the parties with reference to ec- 
clesiastical authority. 

The New Brunswick brethren had appealed to the 
Adopting Act, but John Thomson appeals to the subse- 
quent Act of Synod, which he claims changed its com- 
plexion: 

" I suppose that what our brethren value the printed declara- 
tion, which they mention, most for, is the too great latitude ex- 
pressed in it, which fault was amended in the following year, 
when that latitude was taken away as dangerous." (p. 68.) 

Such views of the power of a minority Synod, to amend 
and remove the latitude of the Adopting Act, were far 
more dangerous to the constitution of the Church than 
any principles advanced by the Tennents. We do not 
wonder that they had said, in view of such opinions of 
Thomson : 

" In short, if we may be suffered to speak plainly, a legislative 
authority makes the terms of communion as variable as any 
weather-cock, so that a man Is in continual danger of being cast 
out of communion, where it is exercised In its rigor, unless he 
has a conscience as pHable as wax, ready to receive every impres- 
sion, or can alter his sentiments, out of compliance to a majority, 
as fast as the cameleon its colors." 

Thomson thinks that with reference to the persons 
who should scruple anything in the Standards — 

" Surely in that case It is less danger and damage to Christ's 
Church to want the benefit of such a person's labors, than to 



^ Government 0/ t/ie Church 0/ Christ, Philadelphia, 1741. 



266 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

purchase it at the expense of a rule which, for its matter and sub- 
stance, is really known to be contained in the Word, though such 
a person cannot see it." 

Samuel Blair responds to Thomson as follows : 

" That which the Apology opposes then, you see, is just this, 
viz. A Power or authority in church-judicatures, to make rules, 
acts, or canons, which they can only pretend, at most, are not 
contrary to, or forbidden in, any place of scripture; but are 
agreeable to its general directions, and good expedients for the 
securing, or promoting, some good purposes in the church ; and 
to impose them as obligatory laws on such of their members, or 
communion, as judge them to be sinful, contrary to scripture, 
and prejudicial to the true interest of the church, so as that they 
cannot observe them with a safe conscience." (pp. 212-13.) " The 
point denied is this, viz.: That church-judicatures have a lawful 
power of oppressing the consciences of their members, by impos- 
ing anything upon them on pain of censure and non-communion, 
which they judge sinful, and cannot in conscience comply 
with ; when the majority in the mean time, are not in conscience 
bound, by the authority of God declaring or ordaining that very 
thing in his Word. And, sure, this is very different from the 
foregomg general case. Such a power as this, is, I think prop- 
erly a legislative power in religious matters : for the things en- 
joined are not pretended to be particularly enjoined by God in 
the Scripture ; but only devised as good and useful expedients 
for the time, supposed to be agreeable, or not contrary to Scrip- 
ture ; certainly then, the imposing of such things as these in such 
a manner, as absolutely necessary to be obeyed by all our mem- 
bers, as an absolutely necessary term of their membership and 
communion with us, when their consciences will not suffer them 
to obey, and enjoy membership on such terms, is a making of 
laws in the church to a degree. To censure, punish, and cast 
out persons out of the communion and privileges of the church 
by any other laws than those of Jesus Christ, is not this to as- 
sume his proper prerogative and alone power of giving laws to 
his church ? If this is not legislation, or law making, in the 
church of God, I do desire to be informed what it can be." 
(p. 213, Vi?idication of the Brethreti who were ufijustly and ille- 
gally cast out of the Syitod of Philadelphia by a number of the 
members, from maintai7iing principles of Anarchy in the church 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERTANISM DIVIDED. 267 

and denying the Scriptural authority of church-judicature ; against 
the charges of the Rev. John Thompson, in his piece entitled, the 
Govermnent of the Church of Christ, etc. By Samuel Blair, min- 
ister of the gospel at New Londonderry, in Pennsylvania. Sam- 
uel Blair's Works. Philadelphia^ 1754.) 

Thomson, Cross, Alison, and their friends were strain- 
ing after an extreme type of Presbyterianism, beyond 
anything that had previously been known in America, 
and with stretches of absolutism which would have been 
strenuously opposed in the mother Presbyterian churches 
of Europe. It was the necessity of their position in 
hostility to Methodism, rather than their conformity to 
ideal Presbyterianism which urged them on to such tyr- 
anny and disorder. 

The second item in their protest was : 

" that no person, minister or elder, should be allowed to sit and 
vote in this Synod, who hath not received, adopted or subscribed, 
the said Confessions, Catechisms, and Directory, as our Presby- 
teries respectively do, according to our last explication of the 
adopting act." 

Immediately after the excluded party had withdrawn, 
an overture was passed : 

" That every member of this Synod, whether minister or elder, 
do sincerely and heartily receive, own, acknowledge, or subscribe, 
the Westminster Confession of Faith, and Larger and Shorter 
Catechisms, as the confession of his faith, and the Directory, as 
far as circumstances will allow and admit in this infant church, 
for the rule of church order. Ordered, that every session do 
oblige their elders, at their admission, to do the same." 

Thus a mere fragment of the Synod presumed to alter 
the fundamental law of the Church, make strict subscrip- 
tion obligatory upon all ministers and elders ; and discard 
the breadth and liberty of the original Adopting Act. 

At the next meeting of the Synod, May 26, 1742, the 
Presbytery of New York and the intermediate party 



268 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

generally, appeared in full force. Jonathan Dickinson 
was chosen moderator, and earnest efforts were put forth 
for reconciliation ; but in vain. It was too late. The 
Protesters had excluded the New Brunswick Presbytery 
and its friends ; they felt strong enough now to resist 
the intermediate party ; and they were determined to 
enforce their views upon the whole Church. They 
claimed 

" That they with the members that adhered to them, after 
ejecting said members, were the Synod, and acted as such in the 
rejection, and in so doing they only cast out such members as 
they judged had rendered themselves unworthy of membership, 
by openly maintaining and practising things subversive of their 
constitution, and therefore would not be called to account by 
absent members, or by any judicature on earth, but were willing 
to give the reasons of their conduct to their absent brethren, and 
to the pubhc to consider or review it." {Records, p. 162.) 

The Presbytery of New York and their friends pro- 
tested, but in vain. 

In the meanwhile the Presbytery of New Brunswick 
met in Philadelphia, June 2, 1741, with corresponding 
members who had been excluded from the Synod with 
it, organized an additional Presbytery of Londonderry, and 
appointed a meeting of the Synod for August, 1742."^ 

At the meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia May 30, 
1743, the Presbytery of New York presented an overture 
for the accommodation of the differences, but it was im- 
mediately rejected by the Synod. Jonathan Dickinson, 
Ebenezer Pemberton, John Pierson, and Aaron Burr 
thereupon presented a paper, in which they stated that 
they could not at present see their " way clear to sit and 
act as though we were the Synod of Philadelphia, while 
the New Brunswick Presbytery, and other members with 
them, are kept out of the Synod in the manner they now 



* C. Hodge, in /. r., II,, p. 161. 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 269 

are." The paper also contained a proposal of agreement 
and union between them and the New Brunswick breth- 
ren. An answer to the protest of the New York breth- 
ren was adopted, but kept in retentis until the meeting 
of Synod May 24, 1744, when it was spread upon the 
minutes. At the Synod of 1745, May 23d, " Messrs. Dick- 
inson, Pierson and Pemberton, in the name of the New 
York Presbytery, and by commission from them," desired 
a Committee of Conference to remove differences. The 
Committee was appointed, and drew up a plan which 
was submitted. May 25th; but the Commissioners of 
New York Presbytery declined to accept it, and proposed 
to the Synod a mutual agreement to erect another Synod 
under the name of the Synod of New York, and '^ that 
there may be a foundation for the two Synods to consult 
and act in mutual concert with one another hereafter, 
and maintain love and brotherly kindness with each 
other." The Synod responded 

"that though we judge they have no just ground to withdraw 
from us, yet seeing they propose to erect themselves into a Synod 
at New York, and now desire to do this in the most friendly man- 
ner possible, we declare, if they or any of them do so, we shall 
endeavour to maintain charitable and christian affections toward 
them, and show the same upon all occasions by such correspond- 
ence and fellowship as we shall think duty, and consistent with 
a good conscience." 

Accordingly, September 19, 1745, the Presbytery of 
New York united with the Presbyteries of New Bruns- 
wick and New Londonderry ; and the Synod of New 
York was erected at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, com- 
posed of three Presbyteries : 

(i) Presbytery of New York — Jonathan Dickinson, John 
Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton, Simeon Horton, Aaron 
Burr, Azariah Horton, Timothy Jones, Eliab Byram, 
Robert Sturgeon ; (2) Presbytery of Nezv Brunswick — 



270 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISAI. 

Gilbert Tennent, Joseph Lamb, William Tennent, Rich- 
ard Treat, James McCrea, William Robinson, David 
Youngs, Charles Beatty, Charles McKnight ; (3) Presby- 
tery of Neiv Castle — Samuel Blair, Samuel Finly, Charles 
Tennent, John Blair — twenty-two ministers in all. 

They agreed upon the following articles '' as the plan 
and foundation of their synodical union " : 

" I. They agree that the Westminster Confession of Faith, with 
the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, be the public confession of 
their faith in such manner as was agreed unto by the Synod of 
Philadelphia, in the year 1729; and to be inserted in the latter 
end of this book. And they declare their approbation of the 
Directory of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, as the 
general plan of worship and discipline. 

" 2. They agree that in matters of discipline, and those things 
that relate to the peace and good order of our churches, they 
shall be determined according to the major vote of ministers 
and elders, with which vote ever}' member shall actively concur 
or pacifically acquiesce ; but if any member cannot in conscience 
agree to the determination of the majority, but supposes himself 
obliged to act contrary thereunto, and the Synod think them- 
selves obliged to insist upon it as essentially necessary to the 
well being of our churches, in that case such dissenting member 
promises peaceably to withdraw from the body, without endeav- 
ouring to raise any dispute or contention upon the debated 
point, or any unjust alienation of affection from them. 

" 3. If any member of their body supposes that he hath any- 
thing to object against any of his brethren with respect to error 
in doctrine, immorality in life, or negligence in his ministry, he 
shall not on any account, propagate the scandal, until the person 
objected against is dealt with according to the rules of the 
gospel and the known methods of their discipline. 

"4. They agree, that all who have a competent degree of 
ministerial knowledge, are orthodox in their doctrine, regular in 
their lives, and diligent in their endeavours to promote the 
important designs of vital godliness, and that will submit to 
their discipline, shall be cheerfully admitted into their com- 
munion. 

" And they do also agree, that in order to avoid all divisive meth- 



AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM DIVIDED. 271 

ods among their ministers and congregations, and to strengthen 
the discipline of Christ in the churches in these parts, they will 
maintain a correspondence with the Synod of Philadelphia in 
this their first meeting, by appointing two of their members to 
meet with the said Synod of Philadelphia at their next conven- 
tion, and to concert with them such measures as may best pro- 
mote the precious interests of Christ's kingdom in these parts. 

" And that they may in no respect encourage any factious 
separating practices or principles, they agree that they will not 
intermeddle with judicially hearing the complaints, or with 
supplying with ministers and candidates such parties of men, as 
shall separate from any Presbyterian or Congregational churches, 
that are not within their bounds, unless the matters of con- 
troversy be submitted to their jurisdiction or advice by both 
parties." {Records, pp. 233-234.) 

Dr. E. H. Gillett properly states : 

" In acceding to these terms, the New Brunswick party made 
a virtual confession of the errors they had committed, and the 
wrongs they had done. They cheerfully surrendered to the 
New York brethren what the authority of the Philadelphia 
Synod could not extort. In conjunction with their new allies 
they now extended the olive branch to their former antagonists. 
A great point had been gained — by whatever influences or 
motives — when they were willing to renounce their former 
violent and divisive courses, discountenance the use of invective 
and slander, and abide by the decision of a majority of the body 
to which they belonged. It is not difficult to recognize in the 
terms of the Synod's basis, the shaping influence of a master 
mind. The Synod met at Elizabethtown, and Jonathan Dickin- 
son, of Elizabethtown, was chosen moderator." {^American Pres- 
byterian Review, July, iS68^ p. 417.) 

The differences between the Synods are distinctly 
drawn, (i) The Synod of Philadelphia were opposed 
to the entire movement of Methodism, its principles 
and revival measures ; the Synod of New York regarded 
them as a blessed work of God. (2) The Synod of Phila- 
delphia insisted upon strict verbal subscription " accord- 
ing to their last explication of the Adopting Act " in 1736 ; 



2Y2 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the Synod of New York agreed that the Westminster 
symbols ''be the public confession of their faith in such 
manner as was agreed unto by the Synod of Philadelphia 
in the year 1729," and thus maintained liberal and sub- 
stantial subscription. (3) The Synod of New York 
emphasized the right of peaceable withdrawal from the 
Synod of discontented parties ; over against the claim 
that a majority had the right to exclude the minority. 

On the one side were Puritan vital piety and Methodist 
aggressive evangelization ; on the other, the formalism 
of conformity to rigid types of doctrine and of inefficiency 
in traditional methods of work. On the one side, liberal 
subscription and considerate discipline ; on the other, 
strict subscription and tyrannical discipline. 

It was an unfortunate time for Separation. The Pres- 
byterian Church needed all its energies for evangeliza- 
tion on the frontiers, especially in Virginia and North 
Carolina ; and for missions among the American Indi- 
ans, now in their infancy in the Middle colonies. Ap- 
peals to New England and Great Britain for aid were 
rendered ineffectual by discord, and the uncertainty as 
to its results. It was a separation not merely into two 
parties, but it soon gave birth to a third party, and 
opened the doors for the establishment of other types 
of Scottish Christianity in America. It not only brought 
about disunion in British Presbyterianism, but it pre- 
vented union with the Dutch Reformed and German 
Reformed Churches, which was at this very time pro- 
posed by the mother Synod of Holland. John Thom- 
son and his eleven associates in the Synod of 1741, were 
guilty of an act of schism, which wrought wide-spread 
mischief which has continued to vex American Presby- 
terianism until recent times. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

The intolerance and bigotry that brought about the 
division of the Synod of Philadelphia, and the organi- 
zation of the two parties into separate Synods, worked 
mischief in many different directions. The rump Synod 
of Philadelphia, with great impropriety, claimed to be 
the '^ old side," because of their zeal for strict subscrip- 
tion and discipline. They were really the party who 
had been striving for several years to change the consti- 
tution and practice of the American Presbyterian Church. 
They were a body of ScotchTrish ministers, endeavoring 
to remodel American Presbyterians after the fashion of 
the strict subscriptionists of the North of Ireland. The 
native-born American ministers, the Scotchmen, the 
Welshmen, and the more liberal Irish ministers of the 
type of Makemie, Hampton, Henry, and the Tennents, 
strove to carry out the generous and tolerant principles 
of the Fathers of Presbyterianism in America. The lat- 
ter were called ''the New Side." The '' Old Side" had 
now reconstructed the Synod of Philadelphia after their 
own ideas, and were apart by themselves. The '' new 
side" embraced the more active Methodists who had 
been excluded from the Synod of Philadelphia, and the 
mediating party who declined to recognize their ex- 
cision, in the Synod of New York. 

I. — THE COVENANTERS IN AMERICA. 

There can be little doubt that the Covenanters were 
the most numerous among the original Scotch exiles 
18 (273) 



274 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

and emigrants to America; but they were scattered 
through the colonies, and were nowhere strong enough 
to organize themselves into covenanting churches. The 
division of the Synod of Philadelphia was the occasion 
for the introduction of the Reformed Presbytery into 
America. Alexander Craighead, son of Thomas Craig- 
head, the Irish minister, who came to New England in 
171 5, and finally united with the Synod of Philadel- 
phia in 1724,* was ordained November 18, 1735, at Mid- 
dle Octorara, Pennsylvania. He was not only an earnest 
revivalist, but also a strict Covenanter.f 

There ought to have been room enough in American 
Presbyterianism for this type of Scottish Christianity. 
But intense opposition to it was transplanted with the 
Irish ministers to America. He was, indeed, the im- 
mediate occasion of the division. It seems that David 
Alexander, of the Presbytery of Donegal, and John Cross, 
of the Presbytery of New Brunswick, were in sympathy 
with him.:j: He met with the Presbytery of New Bruns- 
wick after the division, as a corresponding member, and 
urged them to adopt the Solemn League and Covenant; 
but, when they declined to do this, separated from them, 
and appealed to the Reformed Presbytery in Scotland 
for support. John Cross was suspended by the Presby- 
tery of New Brunswick in 1742, on account of serious 
charges against his character; but continued for some 
years to minister to his followers without Presbyterial 



* See p. 185. t See p. 85. 

J John Thomson says: "Some of them preach up the national and solemn 
league and covenant ; and give the breach of those covenants as the great and 
principal cause of the great decay of religion among us. Others of the same 
party never mention it, that I hear of. Some of them oblige parents to these 
covenants at the baptism of their children ; and others do not. Yea, the same 
persons sometimes oblige parents to these covenants, and sometimes do not ; as 
for instance Mr. Alexander Craighead, and Mr. John Cross." {Government of 
the Churchy p. 43.) 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 2Y5 

connection. David Alexander was appointed to supply 
''the necessity of the Great Valley" in 1741, and this is 
the last that is known of him. 

Alexander Craighead prepared a paper in advocacy 
of his opinions, but his views respecting the Solemn 
League and Covenant, brought him into unpleasant re- 
lations with the civil authorities. Thomas Cookson, J. 
P., of Lancaster Co., Pa., complained of it before the 
Synod of Philadelphia, May 26, 1743 ; and it was unani- 
mously agreed : ^ 

" That it is full of treason, sedition, and distraction, and griev- 
ous perverting of the sacred oracles to the ruin of all societies 
and civil government, and directly and diametrically opposite to 
our religious principles, as we have on all occasions openly and 
publicly declared to the world ; and we hereby unanimously, 
with the greatest sincerity, declare that we detest this paper, and 
with it all principles and practices that tend to destroy the civil 
or religious rights of mankind, or to foment or encourage sedi- 
tion or dissatisfaction with the civil government that we are now 
under, or rebellion, treason, or anything that is disloyal. And if 
Mr. Alexander Craighead be the author we know nothing of the 
matter. And we hereby declare, that he hath been no member 
of our society for some time past, nor do we acknowledge him as 
such, though we cannot but heartily lament that any man that 
was ever called a Presbyterian, should be guilty of what is in this 
paper." {Records, p. 165.) 

Alexander Craighead organized several churches of 
the Reformed Presbyterian principles in the vicinity of 
Middle Octorara. In 175 1, he and some of his people 
turned from the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland to the 
Anti-Burger Synod of the Associate Presbyterian Church 
of Scotland ; but the Reformed Presbytery were not dis- 
posed to abandon their adherents in America, and they 
sent over John Cuthbertson in 175 1, to take charge of 
their flock in Pennsylvania. Cuthbertson labored at 
Middle Octorara until his death, March 10, 1791."^ 

* Webster, in /. c., p. 436. 



276 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

II.— THE BURGER AND ANTI-BURGER PRESBYTERIANS 
IN AMERICA. 

The fathers of the Secession from the Church of Scot- 
land had organized a Presbytery Dec. 6, 1733, at Gairney 
Brid.^e.* The Presbytery had grown into a Synod in 
1745, composed of three Presbyteries. They had agreed 
upon '^ a bond for pubHc covenanting with God," and in 
1743 began to swear and subscribe to it.f In 1745 they 
began to discuss the lawfulness of several oaths. They 
first declared against the Mason's oath, and then entered 
into sharp discussion with regard to the oaths imposed 
in some of the burghs of Scotland. 

" The great point of debate was, whether it was lawful for a Se- 
ceder to swear that clause, / profess and allow with my heart, 
the true religion presently professed withm this reahn, atid author^ 
t zed by the laws thereof : I shall abide at, atid defend the same to 
my lifes end, renouncing the Roman Religion called Papistry. 
Mess. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskines, James Fisher, and others, 
contended, that since it was the true, the divine religion, pro- 
fessed and authorized in Scotland, itself, and not the human 
2in6. faulty mantier of professing and settHng it, that was sworn, — 
the words of the oath not being, 2.% presently prof essed and author- 
ised, but words of a very different import : That since, in their 
secession, they had never pretended to set up a new religion, but 
to cleave closely to that, which they had before professed : That 
since, in their various testimonies, they had solemnly approven 
the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government of the Church 
of Scotland, had solemnly declared their adherence to the stand- 
ards avowed by the Established church, and no other ; had so 
often declared their adherence to the ordination vows, which 
they had taken in the established church, whereby they were 
sworn to that religion, doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern- 
ment, professed and authorised in the realm : That since, though 



*See p. 255 ; see also Gair?iey Bridge Memorial, pp.40J'^^., Edinburgh, 1884. 

t John Brown, Historical Account of the Rise a?id Progress of the Secession, 
4t]i eciition, Glasgow, 1780, p. 51 ; John McKerrow, History of the Secession 
Church, revised adilion, pp. \<y:) seq., Edinburgh, 1845. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 277 

they had stated a quarrel with the manner, in which the true re- 
ligion is presently professed and settled, and had testified against 
the corruptions of both church and State, yet they had been so 
far from stating a quarrel with the true religiojt itself, professed 
and authorised in the realm, that they had but two years before, 
in their declaration of principles against Mr. Nairn, judicially 
declared the religion presently authorised to be their own, sol- 
emnly thanking God, that our religion had such security by the 
present civil government, as no nation on earth e7tjoys the like ; 
therefore they pled, that the Synod could not, without the most 
glaring self-contradiction, prohibit the swearing of the above 
clause ; as, in itself, sinful for a Seceder. — Mess. Alexander 
Moncrief, Thomas Mair, Adam Gib, and others, no less warmly 
contended. That this oath being administrated by those of the 
established church, and ought to be understood in the sense of 
the magistrates, for whose security it is given ; and the true re- 
ligion mentioned in it to be understood, as reduplicating upon 
every act of parliament or assembly, inconsistent with the law of 
God ; and as including all the corruptions of both church and 
state : and so natively inferred, That the swearing of the disputed 
clause, imported a solemn renounciation and dropping of the 
whole of their Testimony. They contended, that the words true 
religion, presently prof essed and authorised, m a time of reforma- 
tion, would reduplicate only upon good acts of parliament and 
assembly ; but in a time of deformation, reduplicated upon all 
the bad. After no small disputing, the defenders of the clause, 
and now called Burghers, for the sake of peace, offered to con- 
descend to an act discharging Seceders to swear this clause of 
the oath, as inexpedient for them in the present circumstances, 
viz, of strife and contention about its meaning. This proposal 
the Anti-Burghers rejected. Nothing would please them, but 
an act, declaring the present swearing of it sinful for Seceders, 
and inconsistent with their testimony, and covenant-bond. 

In a meeting of synod, April 9, 1746, they carried a decision 
to their mind. A number of the Burgher ministers and elders 
protested against it ; and soon after gave in their reasons, im- 
porting, that it was sinful in itself, contrary to Christian forbear- 
ance, tending to rent the church, enacted contrary to the order 
prescribed in the barrier acts, and carried by a catch, when many 
members were absent." (John Brown, Historical Account of 
the Rise and Progress of the Secession, 4th edition, Glasgow, 1780, 
pp. 52 w.) 



278 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Two rival Synods were organized in 1747. In 1751 
Alexander Craighead united with a number of kindred 
spirits in Pennsylvania in sending an urgent supplication 
to the Anti-Burger Synod that they would send mission- 
aries to that part of America. This appeal was read in 
Synod, August, 1751, and the Synod appointed the Pres- 
bytery in Ireland to ordain James Hume for the purpose, 
and the Presbytery of Perth and Dunfermline, to ordain 
John Jameson. But neither of these probationers could 
be persuaded to go. At the next meeting, in 1752, they 
ordered Alexander Gellatly and Andrew Bunyan to be 
licensed and ordained for the purpose. The latter did 
not go and Andrew Arnot was appointed in his place. 
These two missionaries sailed in the summer of 1753, 
with instructions to constitute themselves into a Presby- 
tery along with two elders, under the name of the As- 
sociate Presbytery of Pennsylvania. James Proudfoot 
was ordained and sent out to join them, in August, 
1754.. These formed themselves in 1754 into the Asso- 
ciate Presbytery of Pennsylvania, subordinate to the 
Associate Synod (Anti-Burger) of Edinburgh. 

In 1757 they were joined by the Scots Presbyterian 
Church of New York City, which had separated itself 
from the mother church in the previous year. 

This separation was the result of a short conflict 
which began early in the year 1752 ; the origin of which 
is described in the Records of the Trustees of the Con- 
gregation, as follows : 

"This last year has been remarkable for a very important 
event, which for some few weeks appeared with a very threaten- 
ing aspect. This church and congregation had for the space of 
25 years flourished in great peace and tranquility with an entire 

harmony and agreement amongst its members Within 

this year past a further attempt has been made amongst the rul- 
ing part of the church and congregation for the advancement of 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 2Y9 

honour and delight of divine worship, by introducing a new ver- 
sion of the Psalms. It was unanimously agreed at their meeting 
that a new version of the Psalms should be proposed to the con- 
gregation to be used instead of that Low, fiat and mean version 
that had at first been introduced without consulting the minds 
of all those who were first engaged in the erecting of a Presby- 
terian church and congregation in this city." {MS. Records of 
Trustees, Jan. i, 1753, p. 51.) 

The exciting cause of the conflict was the change in 
the Psalmody, but there were other reasons of dissatis- 
faction which gathered about it. The complaints were 
as follows: (i) against the Trustees, that such a body of 
of^cers in the church was inconsistent with the Presby- 
terian plan of government ; (2) against the associate pas- 
tor, Mr. Cummings, for inefficiency ; (3) against the 
Baptism of children without a '' form of covenanting " 
for the parents ; (4) against the lack of a session of rul- 
ing elders. 

It seems that the original session had passed out of 
existence, '^ by reason of the death of some, and the re- 
moval of others,""^ so that the ministers and Trustees 
became '^ the ruling part of the church." Moreover the 
Trustees were jealous of ministerial interference with the 
temporal affairs of the congregation.f 

* The church had ruling elders in 1720, as appears from the Petition of tJie 
Presbyterians of New York to be incorporated Sept. 19, 1720, in Documentary 
History of the State of New York, II., p. 461. They are also mentioned in the 
letter of Dr. NicoU to the Agent of the Church of Scotland, dated Dec. 18, 1739. 
The Minute book of the Trustees of the ist Church of New York (p. i) speaks of 
" the elders, deacons and session room," in 1740. The failure of the session wa3 
therefore quite recent when they wrote in the Minutes '.'■'■ at present, by reason 
of the death of some, and the removal of others, we have not one lay elder or 
deacon.'''' Nathaniel Hazard appears on the Minutes of Synod of Philadelphia as 
elder in 1745, and William Eagles on the Minutes of Synod of New York 
in 1746, 

t This jealousy is manifest in the following extract from the Journal of Trans- 
actions of the Trustees of the Presbyterian Congregation in the city of New 
York. They refer to Mr. Anderson "who sometime after his coming to New 
York affecting a Domination which English Presbyterians had not been used to, 



280 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

The property of the church had been held at first by 
the four original purchasers in their own names, owing 
to the fact that it was impossible to procure a charter. 
After the withdrawal of two of the original purchasers, 
Dr. Nicoll assumed their obligations and associated with 
him James Anderson and several others as the holders 
of the property for the church. It was deemed best in 
1730 to deed the property to representatives of the 
Church of Scotland, and Dr. Nicoll alone managed the 
affairs of the congregation after the removal of James 
Anderson, until his death in 1743. Then the congrega- 
tion for the first time chose Trustees, eight in number, 
to take charge of the temporal affairs of the church. 
These gradually assumed the entire control : the church 
being without a session, even the ministers were pow- 
erless to restrain them. The opposition to the trustees 
broke out when they introduced a change in the Psalmody. 
In this act, however, they were supported by the minis- 
ters and the great majority of the congregation. The 
change in Psalmody originated in the great revivals of 
Methodism. This is so clearly brought out in the Jour- 
nal of the Trustees that we shall quote their representa- 
tion : 

" That during the times of the Revival of Religion in the years 

and intermedling in the Temporalities of that Congregation and the disposition 
of the Publick Money (with which ministers ought to have no concern) a breach 
ensued, and the people were divided and scattered and the church fell into ex- 
treme poverty and Disgrace till at Length after nine years, Mr. Anderson was 
obliged to remove. And it is here to be remembered that this unhappy differ- 
ence and the causes of it, and the terrible consequences that attended of it ; are 
not entered into these memoirs with a design to reflect upon the memory of Mr. 
Anderson (who was hopefully a pious and zealous man) nor upon the memory 
of any person deceased or living but to stand as a warning in all future Times 
to the ministers and people of this church and congregation, that they do not 
again split upon that rock, on which the peace and union of this infant Church 
and congregation was miserably and scandalously broken. And that they in all 
future Times do in the most effectual manner guard against the causes of these 
Divisions and distractions that had like to have been the utter ruin and destruc- 
tion of it." (pp. I seq.) 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 281 

I739» 1740 and 1741 when God said to this church, arise, shine 
for thy light is come &c ; there was a vast accession of people to 
this Light and to the brightness of this churches rising ; in that 
period the poetick writings particularly the Hymns of the sweet 
singer of our Israel became of excellent service and for the divine 
relish which in the use of them had affected many minds. Dur- 
ing that remarkable season, many of the people became desirous 
of introducing some one of the New Versions of the Psalms, into 
the stated publick worship of the congregation ; and from their 
knowledge and experience of their suitableness to animate and 
raise their own devotion, hoping this might produce the same 
effect on others. After this matter had been some years under con- 
sideration and by the private use of the New Version, the old Ver- 
sion had become every day to the Taste of many more and more 
flat, dull, insipid and undevotional . . . and it had been judged that 
no objection could arise against introducing Doctor Watts ver- 
sion but from ignorance of the difference between the old version 
and that, or from some unreasonable prejudice, the ministers, 
elders, deacons and trustees with the approbation of the princi- 
pal part of the congregation from a seeming view to the advance- 
ment of the divine glory, the honour of religion and the edifica- 
tion of the church, desired that, that version might be proposed 
to the congregation to be introduced in a months time unless suffi- 
cient reason to the contrary should be signified to Mr. Pemberton 
in the mean time. Within this period, a party appeared to have 
been formed, which constituted itself, as a society distinct from 
the rest of the congregation and assumed the name of the Scotch 
Presbyterian Society. This party drew together a great number 
of complaints against the minister, the trustees, the government 
of the church and the administration of the sacrament of Bap- 
tism and among the rest against the proposed introduction of 
the new version of the Psalms." (MS. Jour^tah, p. 92 ) 

The Synod appointed a Committee, composed of 
Samuel Davies, Samuel Finley, and Charles Beatty, to 
go to New York and direct and assist the congregation 
'' in such affairs as may contribute to their peace and 
edification." At the same time they approved the 
Trustees, excused Mr. Cummings for his inefificiency on 
the ground of ill health, directed the church to proceed 



282 AifERICAX PRESBYTERIANISM. 

to the choice of elders, and gave power to " the Com- 
mittee to recommend Dr. Watts' version, if upon obser- 
vation of circumstances they think it proper." Two 
elders were ordained, Daniel Van Horn and Isaac Hors- 
field, but it was not deemed expedient to recommend a 
change of the version of Psalms '"at present." However, 
the pastors and Session determined to introduce the 
version of Dr. Watts. The Synod appointed a larger 
Committee in 1753 to heal the breach. This Committee 
decided with reference to Psalmody : 

They " cannot think it regular for the ministers and elders to 
introduce a new version without the express consent and appro- 
bation of the majority of the congregation ; yet since Dr. Watts' 
version is introduced in this church, and is well adapted for 
Christian worship, and received by many Presbyterian congre- 
gations, both in America and Great Britain, they cannot but 
judge it best for the well being of the congregation under their 
present circumstances, that they should be continued." 

The pastors both resigned, and Mr. Pemberton ac- 
cepted a call to Boston, where he preached for many 
years. Thereupon both parties sent a call to Joseph 
Bellamy, and agreed to compose their differences if he 
would become their pastor ; but he deemed it best to 
decline. They then united in calling Mr. McGregorie, 
of New Londonderry, New Hampshire, and applied to 
the Presbytery of Boston for his dismission, May 14, 
1755 ; but in vain. The majority thereupon called Mr. 
Bostwick, of Jamaica; the Synod sanctioned his re- 
moval, April 15, 1756; the minority separated, and 
organized the Scots congregation in New York. 

The separating body were not different from the 
parent church in their views of the movement of 
Methodism ; they had no disposition to unite with the 
Synod of Philadelphia ; they were in agreement with 
the Erskines and the Secession Church of Scotland ; they 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 283 

were in accord with Alexander Craighead, who was the 
first to separate from "the New Side"; they naturally, 
therefore, connected themselves with the Secession Pres- 
bytery in Philadelphia. The secession was only partially 
national in character; for only a portion of the Scotch- 
men and Irishmen joined with the new organization. 
Yet it assumed the name of the Scots Presbyterian 
Church, and the mother church was called the English 
Presbyterian Church. The separation did not occasion 
any difificulties with the Church of Scotland. The 
Church of Scotland recognized that the Seceders in 
New York City were of the same type as the Seceders 
in Scotland ; and continued to feel a lively interest in 
the English Presbyterian Church in New York City, 
whose property still remained in her hands. 

The Methodism of the New York Synod was of the 
type of Whitefield. It had carefully separated itself from 
the extravagances which had brought reproach upon 
the movement in some quarters. It was combined with 
a broad and generous type of Presbyterianism, which 
was recognized in England and in Scotland as more 
akin to the mother Churches of Great Britain than the 
stiff and narrow Presbyterianism of the Synod of Phila- 
delphia. 

The Scots Church in New York City was supplied for 
some time by Alexander Gellatly. Nathaniel Hazard, 
in a letter to Dr. Bellamy, December 8, 1755, says: 
'^ Gellatly has sense, learning and piety"; and again, 
November 17, 1758: "The Scots people have got up a 
new meeting house, about 27 feet wide and 40 feet long. 
Mr. Gellatly has been preaching in it four weeks." "^ 



* Webster, in /. c, p. 247. 



284 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

III.— THE UNION OF BRITISH, DUTCH, AND GERMAN 
PRESBYTERIANISM FRUSTRATED. 

The separation of the several types of British Presby- 
terianism destroyed the possibiHty of combining the 
British with the German and Dutch types. Divine 
Providence in 1744 afforded the American Synod a 
magnificent opportunity for combining the entire Pres- 
byterian and Reformed strength in the colonies into 
one grand organization. 

At the meeting of Synod, May 25, 1744, 

" the Rev. Mr. Dorsius, pastor of the Reformed Dutch church in 
Bucks county, laid a letter before us from the deputies of North 
and South Holland, wherein they desire of the Synod an account 
of the state of the High and Low Dutch churches in this prov^- 
ince, and also of the churches belonging to the Presb}^erian 
Synod of Philadelphia, and whether the Dutch churches may be 
joined in communion with said Synod, or if this may not be, 
that they would form themselves into a regular body and govern- 
ment among themselves. In pursuance of which letter the 
S3'nod agree, that letters be wrote in the name of the Synod, to 
the deputies of these Synods in Holland, in Latin, and to the 
Scotch ministers in Rotterdam, giving them an account of the 
churches here, and declaring our willingness to join with the 
Calvinist Dutch churches here, to assist each other as far as 
possible in promoting the common interests of religion among 
us, and signifying the present great want of ministers among the 
High and Low Dutch, with desire that they may help in 
educating men for the work of the ministry." 

Dorstius was an intimate friend of Frelinghuysen, and 
in hearty sympathy with Methodism, with the education 
of an American ministry, and with the organization of 
the American churches in independent ecclesiastical 
bodies. At this time the Dutch and the German 
churches were in an unorganized state, dependent upon 
the classis of Amsterdam, and subject to its authority 
and discipline. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIA.NISM. 285 

The Dutch Reformed Church was planted in New 
York in 1628 by the organization of a Reformed church, 
by Jonas Michaelius.'^ Under the Dutch West India 
Company the Dutch Reformed Church prospered with 
the growth of the colony. At the time of the surrender 
to the English, in 1664, there were seven ministers and 
eleven churches, besides out-stations.f 'VThe English 
conquest gave a sudden check to the development and 
prosperity of the Reformed church. The number of the 
ministry was reduced from seven to three, and it con- 
tinued at this small number for half a score of years, 
although there were 10,000 people to be ministered 

to."$ 

A provisional classis of five ministers was formed, in 
1679, in order to ordain a minister for the Dutch Re- 
formed church at Newcastle on the Delaware, but it 
seems to have been necessary that this ordination should 
be approved by the classis of Amsterdam. § Dominie 
Selyns returned to New York to take charge of affairs in 
1682. 

" He possessed, in an eminent degree, that rare combination of 
faculties which unites the zeal of the preacher, seeking the sal- 
vation of souls, with the prudence of the presbyter, looking after 
the temporalities of the church. He was systematic, energetic, 
and industrious in his ministerial and pastoral duties. He was 
the chief of the early ministers to enlarge the usefulness of the 
church, and to secure for it a permanent and independent foun- 
dation. He was of a catholic spirit, when liberality was not so 
common, speaking kindly of other denominations and rejoicing 
in their success." (Corwin, in /. c, p. 459.) 

The usurpations of the English governors, Fletcher 
and Cornbury, gave the Dutch Reformed no little anx- 



* E. T. Corwin, Manual of the Reformed Church in America, 3d edition, 
N. v., 1879, p. 3- 
+ Corwin, Manual, p. 11. % Corwin, in /. c, p. 13. 

§ Corwin, in /. c, p. 15. 



286 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

iety. But the policy of the representatives of the Church 
of England seems to have been rather to court the Dutch 
ministers and people, to prevent the establishment of 
English dissenting churches, and to encourage in every 
way the establishment of the Church of England in the 
colonies. Selyns was successful in obtaining a charter 
for the Reformed Church in New York, May 1 1, 1696, and 
then for the first felt that his church was in a condition to 
resist further encroachments. The other Dutch Reformed 
churches had no difficulty in obtaining charters — but 
the English dissenting churches applied for them over 
and over again in vain.* The efforts of Frelinghuysen 
and his associates were rewarded with a large increase 
of the church, and great efforts were put forth to secure 
ministers. The supplies from Holland could not be de- 
pended upon. Several candidates sent from America to 
be educated in Holland were lost on the passage. Fre- 
linghuysen 

"was the first pastor of the Reformed church who began to 
train up young men for the ministry, and was, perhaps, the first 
minister in favour of the independence of the church in Amer- 
ica. Although he helped to initiate, he did not live to take 
part in the assemblies of the Coetus ; but it was largely owing to 
his zeal, his foresight and his persecutions, with their happy re- 
sults, which finally brought about the entire reorganization of 
the Dutch church." (Corwin, in /. c, p. 25.) 

A Coetus was first proposed by the classis of Amster- 
dam to the Dutch Reformed ministers in 1736, and sev- 
eral meetings were held to accomplish its organization. 
But there were many difficulties in the way, and it was 
not accomplished until 1747. It was in the midst of 
these discussions, before the Dutch Reformed churches 
had any sort of a classical organization in America, that 



* C. W. Baird, Cz'vil Status of the Preshyterians in the Province of New 
York, N. Y., 1879. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTER! ANISM. 287 

the proposition for union was brought before the Synod 
of Philadelphia. 

The proposal from the Synods of Holland embraced 
the German Reformed as well as the Dutch Reformed. 
Indeed it was the German Reformed minister, Dorstius, 
who was commissioned to bring the matter of union be- 
fore the Synod of Philadelphia. 

German Reformed emigrants began to settle in Penn- 
sylvania in 1684. In 1709 five thousand Germans from 
the Palatinate removed to America through the aid of 
Queen Anne, and settled in the Valley of the Mohawk. 
Many Swiss Reformed mingled with the Germans. The 
classis of Amsterdam, at the request of the Palatinate 
Church, undertook the care of these emigrant churches. 
The colonists brought their own ministers with them. 
George Weiss settled with a colony in Skippach, near 
Philadelphia, in 1727. In 1737 Dorstius removed to 
Philadelphia. He had been educated for America under 
the direction of two clergymen of Holland. On his ar- 
rival he became closely associated with Frelinghuysen, 
and united with him in the ordination of Goetschius in 
1738. This was regarded as irregular by the classis of 
Amsterdam, and occasioned difficulties which were not 
adjusted until Dorstius visited Holland in 1743. Im- 
mediately on his return to America he laid the prop- 
osition for Union from the Synods of Holland before 
the Synod of Philadelphia. 

Here was a magnificent opportunity for the Synod of 
Philadelphia to combine in its fold the German, Dutch, 
and British Presbyterian Churches of America. The 
Synods of Holland seem to have preferred the plan 
of a single Synod for all the Presbyterian and Reformed 
Churches of America, to the plan of a Coetus, which at 
the best could be only an inadequate and provisional or- 
ganization. But unfortunately the Presbytery of New 



288 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Brunswick, and the Methodists, with whom Doistius and 
the Reformed ministers generally sympathized, had been 
excluded. The efforts of the Presbytery of New York 
to heal the breach were fruitless. The Synod of New 
York was about to be organized. If healing measures 
had then been adopted, this grand scheme might have 
been accomplished. The twelve Protesters of 1741, by 
persisting in the wrong which they had done in dividing 
the American Presbyterian Church, threw away the one 
great opportunity, which has never since been repeated, 
of combining the entire Presbyterian strength of America 
in one compact organization. For there can be little doubt 
that if the views of the Presbytery of New York had 
prevailed in the Synod of 1744, the Presbyteries of New 
Brunswick and New Londonderry would have been 
restored to their rightful position in the Synod ; the 
breaches w^ould have been healed, the Dutch and Ger- 
man Churches would have been cordially received ; 
the corresponding breaches in these Churches would 
have been prevented from expanding into those schisms 
which soon afterwards distracted them ; the French 
Churches of New York and Carolina would have joined 
the Union ; and Presbyterianism would have become so 
strong in the Middle colonies that it would have been 
impossible to resist its onward sweep. It would have 
intrenched itself as the national Church of these colonies 
as strongly as Congregationalism had established itself 
in New England. 

But such a supremacy of Presbyterianism in America 
might have involved a premature struggle with the Eng- 
lish crown ; it would have prevented the establishment 
of those principles of liberty and equality which are now 
the boast of the American Republic. Presbyterianism 
had to suffer through the folly of the twelve Protesters 
of 1 741, and forfeit the religious supremacy of America, 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISxM. 289 

in order that there might be a Free Church in a Free 
State ; in order to the estabHshment of the principles of 
Religious Toleration, Fraternal Recognition of different 
Denominations, and Ecclesiastical Comprehension, on 
a grander scale than Presbyterianism aimed at in the 
eighteenth century. 

All of these principles are wrapt up in the essential 
principles of Puritanism and Presbyterianism, but they 
did not disclose themselves when Presbyterianism was 
in power in Great Britain ; they would not have mani- 
fested themselves in a dominant Presbyterianism in 
America. It was the external struggle against civil 
injustice and tyranny, and the internal struggle with 
narrowness, intolerance, and bigotry that made Presby- 
terianism in America the champion of civil and religious 
liberty. 

IV.— EXTENSION OF FRESBYTERIANISM INTO VIRGINIA 
AND NORTH CAROLINA. 

The rupture of American Presbyterianism was a seri- 
ous blow to its extension into Virginia and North Caro- 
lina. In 1732 Joist Hite led the settlement of the Shen- 
andoah valley in Virginia. He was followed by large 
numbers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, 
and especially by immigrants from Ireland, who were 
met in landing on the Delaware with special induce- 
ments for migrating thither."^ Samuel Gelston was prob- 
ably the first Presbyterian minister in all that region.f 

On September 2, 1737, "the people of Beverly Manor 



*Foote, Sketches of Vh-ginia, II. Series, Phila., 1855, chapter i. 1111736 
Mr. Samuel Gelston was appointed by the Donegal Presbytery to visit "some 
new inhabitants near Opeckon in Virginia, who have been writing to Mr. Gelston, 
and, when he was over the river, desired a visit of this kind ; and he is to spend 
some time in preaching to said new inhabitants according to discretion." (Foote, 
in /. c., II,, p. 21.) 

t See p. 177. 

19 



290 AMERICAN PRESBYTEEIANISM. 

in ihe back parts of Virginia" applied to the Presbytery 
of Donegal for supplies. But the Presbytery " did not 
judge it expedient for several reasons to supply them this 
winter," but directed James Anderson ''to write an en- 
couraging letter to the people to signify that the Pres- 
bytery resolves if it be in their power to grant their re- 
quest next spring." ^ 

In 1738 John Caldwell, in behalf of himself and many 
Presbyterian families about to settle in the '' back parts 
of Virginia," requested the Synod of Philadelphia to so- 
licit the favor of the government of Virginia in their be- 
half. The Synod prepared a letter to William Gooch, 
Lieutenant-Governor of the province, as follows : 

" Alay it please your honour, we take leave to address you in 
behalf of a considerable number of our brethren who are medi- 
tating a settlement in the remote parts of your government, and 
are of the same persuasion with the Church of Scotland. We 
thought it our duty to acquaint your honour with their design, 
and to ask your favour in allowing them the liberty of their con- 
sciences, and of worshipping God in a way agreeable to the prin- 
ciples of their education. Your honour is sensible that those of 
our profession in Europe have been remarkable for their invio- 
lable attachment to the Protestant succession, in the illustrious 
house of Hanover, and have upon all occasions manifested an 
unspotted fidelity to our gracious sovereign King George, and 
we doubt not but these our brethren will carry the same loyal 
principles to the most distant settlements where their lot may 
be cast, which will ever influence them to the most dutiful sub- 
mission to the government which is placed over them. This we 
trust will recommend them to your honour's countenance and 
protection, and merit the free enjoyment of their civil and re- 
ligious liberties. We pray for the Divine blessing upon your 
person and government, and beg leave to subscribe ourselves 
your honour's most humble and obedient servants." {Records, 
p. 142.) 

The Synod also appointed two of their number to 



* Foote, in /. c, II,, p. 27. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 291 

wait upon the Governor and Council of Virginia to the 
same effect. James Anderson, of Donegal Presbytery, 
alone was able to go. He met a favorable reception, 
and brought with him a letter from Mr. Gooch to the 
Moderator, as follows : 

"Sir: By the hands of Mr. Anderson I received an address 
signed by you, in the name of your brethren of the Synod of 
Philadelphia. And as I have been always inclined to favour the 
people who have lately removed from other provinces, to settle 
on the western side of our great mountains ; so you may be 
assured, that no interruption shall be given to any minister of 
your profession who shall come among them, so as they conform 
themselves to the rules prescribed by the act of toleration in 
England, by taking the oaths enjoined thereby, and registering 
the places of their meeting, and behave themselves peaceably 
towards the government. This you may please to communicate 
to the Synod as an answer of theirs. Your most humble servant, 
William Gooch." (Records, p. 147.) 

The chief difficulty having thus been removed, when 
the people of Beverly Manor made a second request to 
the Presbytery, in September, 1739, the Synod appointed 
John Thomson to visit them, and in the same year sent 
John Craig, a licentiate, to '^ Opecquon, the High Tract, 
and other societies of our persuasion in Virginia, at his 
discretion."* In September, 1740, he was ordained by 
the Presbytery to the pastorate of the church " at 
Shenandoah and the South River, and became the first 
pastor of the American Synod in the colony of Vir- 
ginia." f 

The settlement at the head-waters of the James River 
applied to the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1739, 
and again in 1741, for supplies. In 1742 William Robin- 
son went into the valley of Virginia in the true apostolic 



* Foote, Sketches 0/ Virginia., II,, pp. 27-28. 

t Foote gives his narrative in Sketches of J^irginia., II., pp. 28 seq. 



292 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

spirit, and pursued his missionary journey into the new 
settlements in North Carolina, being the first Presby- 
terian minister in that region. He returned along the 
eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, achieving grand evan- 
gelistic success.^ 

The beginnings of Presbyterianism in North Carolina 
were at Duplin and New Hanover on the sea-coast. 
The original settlers in 1736 were from Ulster.f But 
soon after a colony of Highlanders from Argyleshire 
settled at the Forks of Cape Fear River.;]: These High- 
landers in 1 741 applied to the Presbytery of Inverary 
and the Society in Scotland for the Propagating Chris- 
tian Knowledge. The Society appropriated i^2i for the 
minister, and authorized the Presbytery of Inverary to 
select him. It was reported to the Society in January, 
1742, that the Presbytery ^' would find a minister to go 
as missionary to North Carolina with a great many 
Highlanders from Argyleshire the ensuing summer," 
but we have failed to find any evidence that any minis- 
ter actually went with them.§ 



* Webster, in /. r., p. 475 ; Foote, Sketches of North Carolina^ p. 158. 

t Foote, in /. c, p. 78. 

J Whitefield found many "Scotch amongst the congregation " at Newtown, 
on Cape Fear River, "who had lately come over to settle in North Carolina." 
{Co?itinuatio7i of the Rev. Mr. Whitefeld^s Journal^ 2d edit., London, 1740, 
P- 75-) 

§ The only records on the minutes of the Presbytery of Inverary relating to the 
subject are the following, kindly furnished me by the clerk : 

" Kilmartin, 3rd Novr. 1741. 
" After prayer rolls called and marked. There was a representation at this 
time laid before the Presbry, by Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland for himself & 
the Argyle Colony settled at Capefair in North Carolina shewing their earnest 
desire of having a minister soon settled among them, who is a person of merit 
and of an unblemished character, because the Gospel is yet in effect to be planted 
in those parts where there is a considerable number from our bounds already 
settled and a prospect of a great number of the poorer sort to follow and who 
are in deplorable circumstances for want of Gospel ordinances there being but 
two or three ministers in the whole province and these of a poor character, who 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANI8M. 293 

In 1742 the Virginians requested the Commission of 
Synod to write to the General Assembly in Scotland to 
send them a probationer or minister. Accordingly 
Synod in 1743 wrote to the General Assembly of the 
Church of Scotland to 

" Intreat them both to send ministers and probationers to us, 
and to allow them some small support out of their fund for some 
years in new places. And that they be pleased to enable us in 
some measure, or by some method, to erect a Seminary or school 
for educating young men for these ends among ourselves." 

The Church of Scotland took no action with reference 
to this appeal, partly owing to the division in the Synod, 
but chiefly because it was impossible to procure the men. 
) In 1744 " A representation from many people of North 
Carolina, was laid before the Synod showing their deso- 



besides have not the language spoke & only understood by the major part of the 
Colony and therefore craving that the Presbry. would write to the Honourable 
Society for propagating Christian Knowledge at Edinburgh signifying the 
sallary allowed by them for supporting a minister in those parts is so inconsider- 
able that no person of any merit can be prevailed on, to transport himself thither 
in order to be their minister and that it will be necessary the society should give 
a years sallary in hand for defraying the charges of his transportation as also 
craving that the Presbry. would not desire them now to name the person they 
incline to have for their minr. till they see what additional encouragement can 
be obtained from the Society and with-all promising that no person shall be 
desired by them but such as shall be acceptable to the Presbry. and against whose 
sufficiency there will be no objection. 

" The Presbry. having read and considered the said representation and being 
highly sensible of the truth thereof have unanimously agreed to grant the desire 
thereof and accordingly appointed a letter to be wrote in the most pressing terms 
to the said society for the above effect & Mr. Lambie to bring in a draft of it to 
their next meeting." 

" Kilmichael in Glasrie 18th Novr. 1741. 

" The members present had a draft of a letter to the society for propagating 
Christian Knowledge laid before them by Mr. Archibald Lambie who was 
appointed to bring in the same to this dyet, which being read and considered the 
same was approven & the Clerk is appointed to write the said letter to be signed 
by the Moderator and sent to Edinburgh." {Extracted from the Records o/tJte 
Presbytery 0/ Inverary by P. N. Mackishan^ Pres. CI., hiverary, N. B.^ 
31 Dec, 1884.) 



294 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

late condition, and requesting the Synod to take their 
estate into consideration." Messrs. David Evans, Sam- 
uel Evans, and Griffith were appointed to write to Wales 
" to desire a probationer may be sent from them to us 
if they possibly can." 

The Synod were in straits to meet the demands made 
upon them to supply the new settlements, and yet they 
had cast out the Methodist evangelists, rejected the Log 
College, and opposed the earnest efforts put forth by 
these godly men to train up a native ministry. 

In the meanwhile the young men from the Log College 
were prosecuting their missionary labors with apostolic 
zeal and abundant success. As William Robinson, of 
the Presbytery of New Brunswick (a graduate of the Log 
College), had made a missionary tour of wonderful suc- 
cess in 1742-3, so now another of the graduates of the 
Log College, William Dean, went with Eliab Byram, of 
the Presbytery of New York, to the valley of Virginia 
and preached in 1745-7. Their labors were blessed with 
a great revival which continued until 175 1.* Dean was 
called to the church at Timber Ridge and Forks of the 
James River, May 18, 1748, but he died July 9th of the 
same year, aged 29, worn out like Robinson with ardu- 
ous and self-denying labors. Dean and Byram came into 
conflict with Craig, the representative of " the Old Side " 
in Virginia, and great bitterness of feeling was excited. f 
" The Old Side " stirred up the government of Virginia 
against the revivalists. Lieut.-Gov. William Gooch de- 
livered a charge to the Grand Jury of the colony against 
them, representing : 

"The information I have received of certain false teachers that 
are lately crept into this government ; who without orders or 11- 



* Webster, in /. c, p. 526. 

tSee Craig's Narrative^ in Foote's Sketches^ II., p. 31. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 295 

censes, or producing any testimonial of their education or sect, 
professing themselves ministers under the pretended influence of 
new light, extraordmary i7npulse, and suck like fanatical and en- 
thusiastic knowledge, lead the innocent and ignorant people into 
all kinds of delusion, and in this frantic and profane disguise, 
though such is their heterodoxy, that they treat all other modes 
of worship with the utmost scorn and contempt." {Records, p. 
182.) 

This charge was laid before the Synod of Philadelphia 
in 174S, and they adopted the following reply : 

" To the Honourable William Gooch, Esq. Lieutenant Gover- 
nor of the colony of Virginia, &c. The humble address, &c.: 

" May it please your Honour : The favourable acceptance 
which your Honour was pleased to give our former address, and 
the countenance and protection which those of our persuasion 
have met with in Virginia, fills us with gratitude, and we beg 
leave on this occasion in all sincerity to express the same. It 
very deeply affects us to find, that any who go from these parts, 
and perhaps assume the name of Presbyterians, should be guilty 
of such practices, such uncharitable, unchristian expressions, as 
are taken notice of in your Honour's charge to the grand jury. 
And in the mean time it gives us the greatest pleasure, that we 
can assure your Honour, these persons never belonged to our 
body, but are missionaries sent out by some, who by reason of 
their divisive and uncharitable doctrines and practices, were in 
May, 1741, excluded from our Synod, upon which they erected 
themselves into a separate society, and have industriously sent 
abroad persons whom we judge ill qualified for the character 
they assume, to divide and trouble the churches. And, therefore, 
we humbly pray, that while those who belong to us and produce 
proper testimonials, behave themselves suitably, they may still 
enjoy the favour of your Honour's countenance and protection. 
And praying for the divine blessing on your person and govern- 
ment, we beg leave to subscribe ourselves, may it please your 
Honour, your Honour's most obliged, most obedient, and most 
humble servant. Signed in the name and per order of the Synod 
Robert Cathcart, Moderator." {Records, p. 183.) 

Thus '* the old side " committed themselves against 



296 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the revival efforts of '' the new side," in Virginia ; and 
urged on the government of Virginia against their oppo- 
nents. In reward for this they were promised the coun- 
tenance of the government of Virginia.* The Synod of 
New York, at its first meeting September 19, 1745, took 
precisely the reverse course of action : 

" Ordered that Mess. Gilbert Tennent, Samuel Blair and Eben- 
ezer Pemberton, do draw up a testimony to the work of God's 
glorious grace, which has been carried on in these parts of the 
land and bring it in for the approbation of the Synod at their 
next Sederunt. The circumstances of Virginia being brought 
under consideration, and the wide door that is opened for the 
preaching of the gospel in those parts, with a hopeful prospect of 
success, the Synod are unanimously of the opinion, that Mr. 
Robinson is the most suitable person to be sent among them, 
and accordingly they do earnestly recommend him to go down 
and help as soon as his circumstances will permit him, and reside 
there for some months." 

Robinson was detained by a revival at Wicomico, in 
Maryland, and at St. George's, Delaware, and died Au- 
gust I, 1746, with the parting request that Samuel Davies, 
his pupil and friend, should go to Hanover and take up 
the work in Virginia. 

\ Samuel Davies is one of the greatest divines the 
American Presbyterian Church has produced. He began 
his work at Hanover, Virginia, in 1747, but " discourage- 
ments from the government were renewed and multi- 
plied." He settled as pastor in 1748. John Rogers, his 
assistant, was not allowed to qualify under the Tolera- 
tion Act, and he was obliged to labor alone for some 
time. Seven houses were licensed for meetings, and in 
three years 300 persons were added to the communion 
of the church. In 1752, John Todd was licensed as his 
assistant, and he was appointed to go to Europe in be- 



* Records, p. 185. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 297 

half of the College of New Jersey. The Synod took ad- 
vantage of this opportunity to appeal to their friends in 
Great Britain for aid in their efforts to obtain relief from 
the " illegal restraints " under which the Presbyterians 
were suffering in Virginia : 

" Whereas, the Protestant dissenters of the Presbyterian de- 
nomination in the colony of Virginia lie under some restraints, 
particularly with regard to the number of their meeting-houses, 
which is not at all equal to what their circumstances require, 
though they have taken all legal measures to have a sufficient 
number registered according to the act of toleration ; and 
whereas, the Rev. Mr. Samuel Davies has been appointed to 
take a voyage to Great Britain in behalf of the college of New 
Jersey, and may have an opportunity of using proper means to 
procure a redress of said grievance, this Synod do humbly and 
earnestly request the concurrence and assistance of their friends 
there, for the relief of an helpless and oppressed people in a point 
of so great consequence, in which their religious liberties are so 
nearly concerned. 

" We do therefore cheerfully recommend the said Mr. Davies, 
who is settled in Virginia, and the Rev. Mr. John Todd, his col- 
league, as regular and worthy members of their body, zealously 
and prudently engaged in advancing the Redeemer's kingdom." 
(Records, p. 258.) 

^ Through the efforts of Davies and his associates the 
new side gained a strong hold upon Virginia and North 
Carolina, and laid the foundations of Presbyterianism in 
these colonies. 

V. — MISSIONS AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 

The missionary work among the American Indians, 
which was conducted by the Synod of New York, origi- 
nated from the legacy of Daniel Williams to the Society 
in Scotland for Propagating Christian Kiiowledge. 

"The design of erecting a Society in Scotland for Propagating 
Christian Knowledge, took its rise among a few private gentle- 
men that did usually meet in Edinburgh for reformation of man- 



298 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

ners; who afino 1701 reflecting upon the ignorance, atheism, 
popery and impiety, that did so much abound in the Highlands 
and isles of Scotland, did justly reckon that they flowed, in a 
great measure, from the want of suitable means of instruction." 
{Ail Acct. of the Rise, constitution and ijtanagement of the Society 
in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge. 2d edition, 
Edinburgh, 1720, p. 6.) 

The Society began as a private enterprise, but it was 
soon found that '' they were not able in their private 
capacity to do so great and publick a work." They ap- 
pHed to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 
for aid in 1706, and were encouraged by a national col- 
lection. A charter was obtained July 14, 1709, and 
eighty-two leading Presbyterians of Scotland were 
chosen members of the Society. 

The Rev. Daniel Williams, of London, crowned a life 
of wondrous usefulness and benevolence with several 
legacies for the propagating of the gospel. He had been 
one of the founders of the General Fund ^.t'DuhWn,'^ 2ir\d of 
the Presbyterian Fund in London, f and now at his death 
left his library and a fund to establish the Dr. Williams 
Library of London.;}: He also left property for the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England and 
Adjacent Parts. § But the legacy which proved of most 
service to the American Presbyterian Church was given 
by Dr. Williams to the Society i7i Scotland for Propagat- 
ing Christian Knowledge, with the shrewd provision : 

" That the Society are not to be put in possession of the estate 
until a twelvemonth after the Society have actually sent three 
Missionaries to foreign parts." 



* Appendix, p. lix. + Appendix, p. Iviii. 

X This is one of the richest Puritan libraries in the world. It contains the 
original Minutes of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, Richard Baxter's pri- 
vate correspondence, and rich stores of MSS. relating to the origin and growth 
of Puritanism in England. 

§ See Appendix, p. xxxix. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 299 

The revenue from the estate at that time was £^6 
sterling. The Society in Scotland found it difficult to 
comply with these terms, but the London Trustees of 
Dr. Williams' trust refused to convey the estate at Cal- 
worth to the Society until they secured these mission- 
aries and had sustained them for one year. 

The Society addressed a letter through Prof. Hamil- 
ton to Jonathan Dickinson, Moderator of the Commis- 
sion of the Synod of Philadelphia, in 1729. March 26, 
1730, Jonathan Dickinson, replied — 

" setting forth that the said commission convened to consider 
the letter sent them concerning Dr. Williams' Legacy and tho' 
they thought proper to defer a conclusive answer till the session 
of the Synod in September current, yet they thought their duty 
to give the Society their most hearty thanks for their religious 
regards to the spiritual welfare of these parts of the world, and 
to inform them that there are two tribes of the Aboriginal native 
Indians adjacent to their settlement whose Princes seem inclined 
to receive christian instruction, and it is hoped will approve 
themselves forward to encourage a mission of the gospel among 
them." {MS. Minute Book of Society.) 

Sept. 19, 1730, the matter was brought before the 
Synod of Philadelphia, and a committee appointed to 
answer the letter from the Commission of the Church of 
Scotland. 

In the meanwhile it was deemed best by the Society in 
Scotland to co-operate with the Boston ministers on the 
ground 

" that they think that as New England comes the nearest to the 
Church of Scotland in religious matters and as their university of 
New Cambridge does doubtless breed a good number of students 
in divinity, three persons may from thence be commissioned by 
the Society to go as missionaries to the Indian Frontiers (for 
they must not be such as are already employed in that design.) " 
{MS. Minute Book of Society.) 



300 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Gov. Belcher was about to depart for New England 
and he consented to act as one of the corresponding 
members. At his suggestion Rev. Mr. Wigglesworth, of 
Cambridge, Messrs. Joseph Sewell and Benjamin Colman, 
Col. Fitch, John Boreland, and Cap. Steele were associ- 
ated with him. A response was made to the Synod of 
Philadelphia, 

" shewing that before their letter came to hand the Society had 
come to a resolution to send their missionaries first to the colony 
of New England and had in pursuance thereof established a cor- 
respondence there for assisting to carry on the attempt for the 
conversion of infidel pagans in those parts of the world." 

The New England correspondents in 1732 secured 
Joseph Secomb to labor at Block House, on Georges 
River; Ebenezer Hinsdale, at Fort Drummer, on Con- 
necticut River ; and Stephen Parker, at Fort Richmond, 
in the Eastern country. But in 1737 these were dis- 
missed, owing to their unwillingness to comply with the 
views of the Society in Scotland, " to abandon their 
present posts and go farther into the Indian country 
and dwell among the Indians." 

This made it impossible for the Society to carry on its 
work from New England. Accordingly they listened to 
an application from Jonathan Dickinson and Ebenezer 
Pemberton, July 8, 1738, 

" setting forth, the dark and perishing circumstances of great 
numbers of people in those parts of America, where are nations 
of Indians upon the borders of these contiguous provinces, that 
continue in paganism. Also great numbers of people dispersed 
upon new plantations in the provinces of New York, New Jersey 
and Pa., almost in a state of heathendom thro want of gospel 
ordinances. And praying the Society would encourage one or 
two qualified ministers as itinerant preachers among these un- 
gospelized places." 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. OQI 

January 4, 1739, it was resolved by the Committee of 
the Society, 

" to send a letter to Rev. Mess. Pemberton and Dickinson with 
some proposals for encouraging missionary ministers already set- 
tled, or who hereafter may be residents upon the borders of these 
contiguous provinces, who will undertake to employ (at least) 
some part of their time in travelling and abiding with the igno- 
rant people living in those ungospelized places." {MS. Minutes 
of Society .) 

Ebenezer Pemberton wrote to the Society October 27, 
1739, stating: 

" that the Synod have no hopes of finding out a person, who has 
the Indian tongue fit for such a mission (to the Indians) but pro- 
pose to find out a suitable man who will reside among the Indians 
frequently and catechize and teach them to read, and preach 
among them, and also, shall be obliged to get the Indian tongue 
with all convenient dispatch that so they may in a little time be 
able to preach to them in their own language. That a place 
upon the border of Philadelphia upon the borders of the river 
Susquehanna seems to afford a large prospect of success, and Mr. 
Sargent is now introducing some acquaintance with them and 
proposes to prepare the way for their acceptance of the gospel 
when it can be sent among them." 

lu 1741 the Society appointed William Smith, attor- 
ney, Doctor John NicoU, Nath. Hazard, merchant, Jo- 
seph Bennet, Rev. Messrs. John Pierson, Aaron Burr, 
Jonathan Dickinson, Ebenezer Pemberton, Gilbert Ten- 
nent, William Tennent, and John Sargent, " the Soci- 
ety's correspondents and commissioners to oversee and 
direct such measures as shall be employed for the pur- 
pose above mentioned." The Commissioners in New 
York entered zealously and energetically upon their 
work. John Sargent was engaged as the first mission- 
ary, and labored among the Indians on the Housa- 
tonic, making his first report to the Society in 1741. 



302 AMERICAN PKESBYTERIANISM. 

Azariah Horton was licensed by the Presbytery of New 
York in 1742, and employed as the second missionary 
among the Indians on Long Island. Davdd Brainerd was 
appointed, in 1743, the third missionary to labor among 
the Indians on the Delaware and the Susquehanna. 
The missions were wonderfully successful. The Indian 
settlements enjoyed the same kind of revivals as those 
which accompanied the Methodist movement elsewhere. 
Brainerd was an apostolic man like Eliot before him. 
He was cut down in the morning of life and at the out- 
set of his remarkable career. In 1748 his brother John 
was appointed in his stead. 

V The Synod of New York were not content to employ 
the funds from Scotland ; they raised considerable sums 
among their own churches in New York and New Jersey, 
and in 1751 enjoined ''all their members to appoint a 
collection in their several congregations once every year " 
for the propagation of the Gospel among the Indians. 
This was the beginning of the Foreign Mission Work of 
American Presbyterianism. 

The missions among the Indians enjoyed only a tem- 
porary prosperity. In 1754 Mr. Horton resigned his 
position, '' the mission not being found so extensively 
useful as had at first been expected." In 1755 John 
Brainerd also resigned, because the Indians " having 
parted with their lands would soon be obliged to move 
from that place," and " by reason of the present danger- 
ous situation of the back part of the country it would 
be difificult to open a mission there this year." The 
mission was given in charge of Mr. Tennent for a season. 
It became evident that nothing permanent could be ac- 
complished unless the converted Indians could be settled 
upon lands of their own. Accordingly the correspond- 
ents in New York in 1757 resolved to purchase 3,000 
acres of land for the Indians to settle on. They raised 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 303 

;£'i50 themselves, and desired the Society in Scotland 
and Mr. Whitefield in London to aid them. Finding 
that nothing would be done in London, the Society, No- 
vember 17, 1757, appropriated ;^300 to complete the 
purchase of the land, " provided the land was conveyed 
to the Society in Scotland." March 2, 1758, the Society 
resolved to purchase 4,000 acres, square or oblong ; '* that 
at each of the angles an obelisk should be erected with 
a brass inscription certifying the Society's property 
therein." The Government of New Jersey set apart a 
considerable tract of land in Southern New Jersey, called 
the Brotherton tract, for the perpetual use of the Indi- 
ans, in consideration of an agreement on the part of the 
Indians to relinquish their claims to other lands in the 
colony. 

John Brainerd was reappointed in 1757, and the work 
resumed under his direction among the Indians in their 
new settlement. The missions among the American 
Indians were successful, but the circumstances of the 
case prevented the attainment of permanent results. 
The work of the Brainerds, like that of the Eliots and 
Mayhews before them, was a mighty work of God in 
the conversion and consecration of these poor Indians ; 
but it could not result in the establishment of permanent 
Indian churches. The missionaries were obliged to fol- 
low the tribes as they retreated before the advances of 
civilization, and rescue as many as possible of the mul- 
titudes whom the vices and diseases which civilization 
brought to them were rapidly carrying away. The Chris- 
tian Indians who survived the diseases of civilizationi 
became absorbed in the settled communities as servants 
in the households and upon the farms of their con- 
querors. 



304: AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

VI.— THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRESBYTERIAN INSTITU- 
TIONS OF LEARNING. 

The Log College established by William Tennent, 
Senior, at Neshaminy,* was of immense service to the 
cause of Christ in the training of a considerable number 
of godly and efficient ministers ; f but this was not the 
college which was needed by the American Presbyterian 
Church. The efforts of the Synod to establish a synod- 
ical college were interrupted by the separation ; but both 
of the Synods very soon set to work with earnestness 
to solve this serious problem of training a native ministry. 

There were quite a number of classical academies, 
conducted by several of the more eminent ministers, in 
connection with their churches, but the Middle colonies 
needed a college, such as Harvard and Yale in New 
England. 

The Old Side in 1744 adopted the New London Acad- 
emy, established by Francis Alison in 1741, and strove 
to make this into a college. Francis Alison was ap- 



* See p. 242. 

t George Whitefield visited it in 1739 and said : " The place wherein the young 
men study now is in contempt called the College. It is a Log House, about 
Twenty Feet long, and near as many broad : and to me it seemed to resemble the 
Schools of the old prophets. — For that their habitations were mean, and that they 
sought not great Things for themselves, is plain from that Passage of Scripture, 
wherein we are told, that at the Feast of the Sons of the Prophets, one of them 
put on the Pot, whilst the others went to fetch some Herbs out of the Field. All 
that can be said of most of our publick universities is, they are all glorious with- 
out. From this despised Place, Seven or Eight worthy Ministers of Jesus have 
lately been sent forth ; more are almost ready to be sent, and a Foundation is 
now laying for the Instruction of many others." {Continuation 0/ the Reverend 
Mr. Whitefield'' s Journal, 2d edition, London, 1740, p. 44.) Dr. Archibald 
Alexander gives biographical sketches of the following alumni of the college : 
Gilbert Tennent, John Tennent, William Tennent, Jr., Charles Tennent, Samuel 
Blair, John Blair, Samuel Finley, William Robinson, John Rowland, and Charles 
Beatty : several of whom were eminent as evangelists, and instructors of other 
institutions. (See Arch. Alexander, Biographical Sketches of the Founder and 
Principal Alumni of the Log College^ Philadelphia, 1851.) 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 305 

pointed master ; * several trustees were selected to 
have charge of its affairs, and a collection in its behalf 
was ordered in all the churches. 

" The Synod of Philadelphia had now a school under their 
own care, and an able teacher ; but as they had manifested so 
great a reluctance to receive the pupils of Mr. Tennent's school, 
without a better education than could be afforded by a grammar 
school, they could not for consistency's sake be satisfied with the 
course of instruction in their own school, where there were no 
more professors than in the Log College. They therefore 
thought of a plan of sending their young men, for a short period, 
to Yale College, to receive a diploma, if they could make an ar- 
rangement with the faculty and trustees of the college that 
would suit them. Messrs. Andrews and Cross were appointed 
to write a letter to the president and corporation of the afore- 
said college. This letter is not on record ; neither is President 
Clapp's answer. But on receiving his letter they appointed a 
large Committee to prepare a letter in answer, which is pre- 
served in the Records of the Church, "t (Arch. Alexander, Log 
College, p. 88.) 

The Synod of Philadelphia had placed themselves in 
an awkward position by their hostility to the Log Col- 
lege. They found it impossible to organize as good an 
institution themselves. They were obliged to appeal to 
Yale College to beg '' all the indulgence your constitu- 
tion can allow us." And they did not hesitate to ex- 
press their sympathy with the Faculty of the college in 
the case of David Brainerd, and their censure of the 
course of the Synod of New York in receiving this most 
devoted man into the ministry. Notwithstanding all 
these efforts the plan of a connection with Yale College 
failed, and the Old Side were left in the position of hav- 
ing a synodical academy which was in all respects inferior 
to the Log College. Francis Alison did not long remain 



* See p. 261. 

+ See Appendix XXVIII., where the Letter is given. 

20 



306 " AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

with the synodical academy. He removed to Philadel- 
phia in 1749, in an irregular manner, without consulting 
the Synod, and took charge of a grammar school, which 
grew into a college in 1755. Soon afterwards the 
school at New London was removed to Newark, Dela- 
ware, and continued to improve as an academy under 
the instruction of Alexander McDowell and Matthew 
Wilson. 

The New Side were more successful in their educational 
efforts. The Log College was the basis for the College 
of New Jersey. William Tennent became feeble with 
old age, resigned his pastorate in 1743, and died May 6, 
1746, without leaving any one competent to fill his place 
at the head of the Log College. The time had come to 
establish something better in its place. Accordingly, 
through the efforts of Jonathan Dickinson, a charter for 
a new college was obtained October 22, 1746; and Dick- 
inson, Pierson, Pemberton, and others were appointed 
trustees ; these selected Dickinson for President of the 
college ; and it was opened in the President's house at 
Elizabethtown in May, 1747.* No better man could 
have been found to lay the foundation of Presbyterian 
Higher education in America. He was head and shoul- 
ders above his brethren in the ministry in intellectual 
and moral endowments — the recognized leader in all the 
crises of the Church. 

It was a serious blow to the college as well as the 
Church when he was removed by death in the first year 
of his presidency, October 7, 1747. The college was 
then removed to Newark, in 1748 ; Aaron Burr was ap- 
pointed president, and the friends of the Log College 
attached themselves to it. The college was designed as 
a centre of education for the New Side, which had lost 



E. F. Hatfield, FHstoj-y of Elizaleth^ pp. 349 j-^^. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 39^ 

confidence in Yale College, owing to its opposition to 
the revival movement, and its unkind dealings with Da- 
vid Brainerd. On this account, Jonathan Edwards and 
other New England Methodists gave the new college 
their hearty support. Governor Belcher, of New Jersey, 
writes to Jonathan Edwards, May 31, 1748 : 

"As to our embryo college, it is a noble design, and, if God 
pleases, may prove an extensive blessing. I have adopted it for 
a daughter, and hope it may become an alma mater to this and 
the neighbouring provinces. I am getting the best advice and 
assistance I can in the draft of a charter, which I intend to give 
to our infant college ; . . . . the accounts I receive from time to 
time, give me reason to believe that Arminianism, Arianism, and 
even Socinianism, in destruction of the doctrines of free grace, 
are daily propagated in the New England colleges." (Arch. 
Alexander, Log College, p. 81.) 

Ebenezer Pemberton wrote to the Society in Scotland 
for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, asking aid 
for the infant college. The Society, in 1748, authorized 
the education of one young man at the college at their 
expense; in 1749 appropriated ;^30 for the purchase of 
books for its library; and in 1750 granted it an appro- 
priation for the education of two young Indians. In 
1 75 1 the Synod wished to send Mr. Pemberton to Great 
Britain to solicit contributions for the college, but the 
congregation in New York City were unwilling to part 
with him. Accordingly the trustees sent a petition to 
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. This 
petition was presented in 1752, supported by the Soci- 
ety for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, and a 
national collection was desired. The petition was re- 
ferred by the General Assembly to its Commission. 
In the meanwhile Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Davies 
had been appointed by the Synod of New York to visit 
Great Britain in behalf of the college. They went at 



308 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

once to London and appealed to the English Presby- 
terians and Congregationalists. They were at first re- 
garded with some suspicion on account of an unfavor- 
able opinion of the terms of subscription in the Amer- 
ican Synods, on the part of the leading Presbyterians, 
who were non-subscribers. Davies tells us : 

" Went to Hamlin's coffee-house among the Presbyterians, 
where they are generally very shy and unsociable to me. They 
have universally, as far I can learn, rejected all tests of ortho- 
doxy, and require their candidates, at their ordination, to de- 
clare only their belief of the Scriptures. Mr. Prior, with the ap- 
pearance of great uneasiness, told me that he had heard we would 
admit none into the ministry without subscribing to the West- 
minster Confession ; and that this report would hinder all our 
success among the friends of liberty. I replied that we allowed 
the candidate to mention his objections against any article in 
the Confession, and the judicature judged whether the articles 
objected against, were essential to Christianity; and if they 
judged they were not, they would admit the candidate, notwith- 
standing his objections. He seemed to think that we were such 
rigid Calvinists, that we would not admit an Arminian into com- 
munion." (See Davies' Journal, in Foote's Sketches of Virginia, 
p. 257. Philadelphia, 1850.) 

This explanation of the Adopting Act, showing its 
breadth and tolerance, seems to have removed the scru- 
ples of the leading Presbyterians, and they responded 
liberally. April 7, 1754, he represents that ;^ 1,200 had 
been raised in England, and soon after the amount rose 

to ;£"l,700.* 

Messrs. Tennent and Davies then went to Scotland, 
appeared before the General Assembly of the Church of 
Scotland, presented the cause of the college May 2^^ 
1754, and an Act was passed for a national collection in 
its favor.f The Act was supported by a recommenda- 



* Davies' yournal, in /. c, pp. 258-259. 
t See Appendix XXIX. for this Act. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 309 

tion from the Society in Scotland for the Propagation 
of Christian Knowledge. The collection in Scotland 
amounted to upwards of ^1,000."^ 

Tennent then went to the General Synod of Ulster, 
and the Presbytery of Antrim, received their endorse- 
ment, and collected in Ireland ^500.f 

Thus the three chief Presbyterian churches of Great 
Britain — English, Scotch, and Irish — united in rendering 
aid to the College of New Jersey, amounting in the 
aggregate to upwards of ;^4,ooo.:j: The Presbyterians 
of Great Britain showed their sympathy with the broad 
and tolerant Presbyterians of the Synod of New York, 
rather than the narrow and intolerant Presbyterians of the 
Synod of Philadelphia. The English Presbyterians at 
this time were opposed to subscription altogether ; the 
Church of Scotland was in the hands of the '^ Moderates," 
and the Synod of Ulster was controlled by the liberal 
subscriptionists. The mother of American Presbyterian 
colleges was planted on the basis of the pledges of Sam- 
uel Davies and Gilbert Tennent as to the terms of sub- 
scription in accordance with the original Adopting Act. 
The college was therefore pledged and consecrated to a 
broad, generous, and liberal Presbyterianism. 

Another fund of ^^357 4/6 was given 

" for the education of such youth for the ministry of the Gospel, 
in the College of New Jersey, as are unable to defray the ex- 
penses of their education, who appear, upon proper examination, 
to be of promising genius, Calvinistic principles, and in the judg- 
ment of charity, experimentally acquainted with a work of saving 
grace, and to have a distinguished zeal for the glory of God, and 
salvation of men." 

There can be no doubt that these gifts came from those 
who were in sympathy with Methodism. This little fund 



* Webster, in /. c, p. 260. t Davies, in /. r., pp. 267, 275. 

X Webster, in /. c, p. 261. 



310 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

was the beginning of that vast system of scholarships 
which has extended into the large number of Presbyterian 
colleges and theological seminaries which have been es- 
tablished since that time. The English, Irish, and Scotch 
Presbyterians from the earliest times had taken pains to 
provide such funds for the education of students for the 
ministry. Many of the fathers of American Presbyteri- 
anism were educated by the help of such funds in Great 
Britain, ere they came to America. It was clearly seen 
that the College of New Jersey could not accomplish its 
chief purpose of training up a pious ministry without 
such a scholarship fund for the aid of students. 

Gilbert Tennent also received a fund of i^200 for the 
propagation of the Gospel among the Indians. This 
fund was placed by the Synod in the hands of the trus- 
tees of the College of New Jersey, — 

" Either towards the support of a pious and well qualified mis- 
sionary in preaching the gospel among the Indians in North 
America, or the supporting of a pious and well qualified 
schoolmaster in teaching the Indians the English language, and 
the principles of natural and revealed religion ; or for maintain- 
ing a pious and well qualified Indian youth at the College of 
New Jersey, while prosecuting his studies there, in order to his 
instructing his countrymen in the English language and the 
Christian religion, or preaching the gospel to them ; or for main- 
taining a pious and well qualified youth of English or Scotch 
extract, at that college, during his preparatory studies for teach- 
ing or preaching the gospel among the Indians, in case an Indian 
youth of suitable qualifications, cannot at some particular time 
be obtained. With this express limitation, namely, that the 
Synod of New York, (or by whatever name that body shall, in 
time coming, be called,) shall direct and determine, to which of 
the uses before mentioned, the yearly interest of the aforesaid 
principal sum, shall be from time to time applied ; and which of 
the candidates for that particular use shall be preferred ; and how 
the overplus above what may reasonably answer the particular use 
at any time pitched on, (if any such overplus be,) shall be em- 
ployed in providing Bibles or other good books, conducive to 
promote the general design." {Records, p. 269.) 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 31J[ 

VII. — INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING AMONG THE RE- 
FORMED CHURCHES. 

In the meantime great interest had been excited in 
Great Britain and Holland in behalf of the German 
Reformed churches of Pennsylvania. In 1746 Michael 
Schlatter offered himself to the Synod of North and 
South Holland as a missionary agent to the German 
churches in Pennsylvania, to organize them, unite them, 
and establish regular correspondence with the classis of 
Amsterdam. At the time of his arrival there were 
46 German churches in an unorganized and feeble con- 
dition, and 30,000 German Reformed people. Octo- 
ber, 1746, he invited the four ordained ministers, Dor- 
stius, Boehm, Weiss, and Reiger, to meet with him and 
organize a Coetus. This was accomplished September 
29, 1747, and thirty-one ministers and elders were com- 
bined in the organization. Mr. Schlatter made a visit 
to Europe in 175 1-2, and the Synod of North and South 
Holland was greatly aroused by his appeals. He secured 
six ministers to return with him to America, and col- 
lected large sums of money, and books. Twelve thou- 
sand pounds were raised as a fund in Holland, *' the 
interest to be devoted to the support of ministers and 
schoolmasters in Pennsylvania." 

David Thomson, pastor of the English Reformed 
Church of Amsterdam, became greatly interested in this 
cause. He visited Great Britain, and appealed to the 
Christian public in their behalf, and a fund of ;^20,ooo 
was raised in England " for the maintenance of free 
schools among the Germans in America." May 21, 1752, 
the appeal of David Thomson was brought before the 
Church of Scotland. The matter was referred to a Com- 
mittee, who introduced Mr. Thomson to the Assembly, 
and presented letters from ''the Provincial Synod of 



3 [2 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

Holland, the Presbytery of Amsterdam, and the Con- 
sistory of the English Church there, all setting forth 
and enforcing the purpose of his petition and commis- 
sioning him to agent the same." The report of the 
Committee is an excellent summary of the state of the 
German churches in Pennsylvania at this time.'^ 

The national collection of the Church of Scotland in 
this behalf was paid into the hands of the Society " to 
act as trustees for the management of the charity for 
the Protestants in Pennsylvania," on application of their 
representative, Dr. Chandler, of London, Secretary of 
the Society. The collection in Scotland was reported 
as amounting to ;^ 1,140 9/1 1. This grand combina- 
tion of the Presbyterian strength of Europe to aid the 
German Reformed churches of Pennsylvania, so happily 
inaugurated by Mr. Schlatter and industriously advo- 
cated by David Thomson, resulting in the organization 
of the London Society, soon brought Mr. Schlatter into 
trouble in America. There was a strong opposition to 
the free schools, and the English instruction in them ; 
race prejudice was excited, and Mr. Schlatter was driven 
from his superintendency by the Coetus in 1757. 

The Dutch Reformed churches went through a severe 
internal struggle at this time. The Coetus was con- 
stituted in 1747, but it was in subordination to the 
classis of Amsterdam, and was so restricted in its powers 
as to become inefificient and unsatisfactory. Accord- 
ingly the more active and zealous ministers formed a 
classis in 1753, consisting of eleven ministers. But there 
were twenty-nine ministers in the Dutch Reformed 
Church in America ; this organization divided them 
eventually into three parties. 

The cause of the rupture was the organization of 
Kings College in New York City. This had the show 

* See Appendix XXX. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 3 [3 

of an undenominational institution, but of the ten 
trustees seven were Episcopalian (the weakest religious 
body in the colony), two Dutch Reformed, and one 
Presbyterian. William Livingston, the Presbyterian trus- 
tee, stoutly resisted it, but the Dutch senior pastor in 
New York was induced to favor it, in the hopes of a 
divinity professorship for the Dutch Church. But the 
great majority of the Dutch Reformed churches agreed 
with the Presbyterians in their opposition to the scheme. 
The organization of the classis was with a view to the 
establishment of a college by the Dutch Reformed 
churches. The action of Ritzema and his friends 
brought about a rupture of the Church. The Coetus 
declared its independence in 1755, and appointed Mr. 
Frelinghuysen, of Albany, to go to Holland and collect 
funds for the proposed college. He was encouraged by 
the success of Schlatter, but he was trammeled by a 
shattered church and by the differences between the 
Coetus and the classis of Amsterdam. Ritzema and 
his friends organized themselves into a Conferentie, com- 
posed at first of five ministers. They had increased their 
number to eight in 1758, but remained greatly in the 
minority. The two parties were sadly at war just at 
the time when the wounds of the Presbyterians were 
healing, and continued in strife after the reunion of 
Presbyterians had been consummated. 

VIII. — THE GROWTH OF THE SYNODS FROM 1 742 TO 

i;59- 

During this period of separation, the Synod of New 
York grew with great rapidity. The evangelization of Vir- 
ginia and Carolina greatly enlarged its area and the num- 
ber of its churches and communicants. The congrega- 
tions in the older communities in New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and Maryland, had been blessed with oft- 



314 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

repeated revivals. Their Methodist fervor and generous 
Presbyterianism attracted the sympathy of the kindred 
Puritan churches in New York colony which had not yet 
united with them. 

April g, 1747, the Presbytery of Suffolk was organized 
on Long Island, New York, by Ebenezer Prime, of 
Huntington, Samuel Buel, of Easthampton, Ebenezer 
White, of Bridgehampton, Nathaniel Mather, of Acque- 
boque, Ebenezer Gould, of Catchogue, and Sylvanus 
White, of Southampton."^ These installed William 
Troop at Southold, Sept. 21, 1748. This Presbytery 
applied for admission to the Synod of New York, were 
received in 1749, and the ministers of the Presbytery of 
New York, on Long Island, were transferred to it. In 
1752 the church at Rye, Westchester county, N. Y., 
with its pastor, John Smith, was received into the Pres- 
bytery of New York ; and thus all the original Puritan 
churches of New York and New Jersey were com- 
bined in the Synod of New York, a body which at this 
time was the truest expression of Puritanism and Meth- 
odism. f 

At the separation, the Synod of Philadelphia num- 
bered 26 ministers, including those who were absent, and 
subsequently adhered to the side of the Protesters. They 
had all the advantages of historic succession, and the 
possession of the funds of the Church. But they rejected 
the principles of Methodism and its revival measures ; 
they made no adequate provision for training a native 
ministry ; they reacted into a barren ecclesiasticism and 
a traditional formalism ; they set themselves in opposition 
to the active forces of the age ; and they accordingly 
found it as difificult to secure fresh supplies of ministers 
as to enlarge their churches by converts. They lost ten 
of their number by death or removal during the separa- 

* V^ebster, in /. c, p. 253. t See p. 272. 



SEVERAL TYPES OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 3^5 

tion, and gained only fourteen new members. ^' Not a 
single one of these was a graduate of any American 
college." 

But the Synod of New York, which gathered into it- 
self the excluded members of the Presbyteries of New 
Brunswick and New Londonderry, and the mediating 
Presbytery of New York, amounting in all to 20 minis- 
ters, grew in the same period to 72 ministers. It lost only 
eight by death and received 79 new members, the ma- 
jority of whom were graduates of Yale College and its 
own College of New Jersey, thus not only greatly out- 
stripping the " old side," but also all the other religious 
denominations of the colonies.* 

Elihu Spencer, pastor of the Presbyterian church at 
Jamaica, Long Island, writes to Dr. Stiles, Nov. 3, 1759, 
immediately after the Reunion, giving the following ac- 
count of the strength of the Dissenting interest in the 
Middle colonies :f 

No. of 
Ministers. 

I. Presbyterians— Hanover Presbytery, Virginia, . . 14 

Donegal " Maryland, . 11 

Lewistown " Pennsylvania, 6 

New Castle " " 11 

Philadelphia " " 12 

New Br'swick " New Jersey, 1 1 

New York " 22 

Suffolk " New York, 13 

100 

II. Dutch Reformed in New York and New Jersey, . 20 

III. Lutheran in New York and Pennsylvania 6 

IV. French Protestants in New York, 2 

V. Independents on Long Island, New York, 3 

VI. Baptists in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 12 

VII. Church of England in New York, New Jersey and 

Pennsylvania 16 

* E. H. Gillett, American Presbyterian Review^ 1868, p. 435. 
\ Mass, Hist. Society Collections^ II. Series, Vol. I., 1814, p. 156. 



316 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

According to this representation the strength of the 
Synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1759 was greater 
than that of all other Christian churches combined, in New 
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Deducting from 
the 100, the 25 of Maryland and Virginia, it leaves 75 
for these three colonies. The second denomination in 
strength was the Dutch Reformed with 20 ministers. If 
to these we add the two French Protestant ministers, we 
have a total of 97 of the Reformed type of doctrine and 
Presbyterian polity. It is clear, however, that Dr. Spen- 
cer leaves out of account the German Reformed Church, 
which had organized a Coetus in 1747, and was nearly as 
strong as the Dutch Reformed at this time, having not less 
than 20 ministers. Moreover, the Presbyterian ministers 
belonging to the Reformed and Associate Presbyteries 
must be taken into the account. There were at least five 
of these. This increases the ministers of the Presbyterian 
and Reformed type to 122. Over against them, accord- 
ing to Dr. Spencer, were 16 Episcopalians, 12 Baptists, 6 
Lutherans, and 3 Independents. Allowing for the under- 
rating of these other denominations of Christians, it is 
clear that the colonies of New York, New Jersey, and 
Pennsylvania, at the middle of the eighteenth century, 
were overwhelmingly Presbyterian. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA: 

1758-1775. 

The Presbyterians of the Synods of New York and 
Philadelphia remained separate until 1758, when they 
united in the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. 
During the entire period of separation continual efforts 
were put forth for re-union. The barriers to be removed 
were differences : (i) as to the principles and methods 
of Methodism ; (2) as to the terms of subscription ; (3) 
as to the nature of ecclesiastical discipline ; and (4) the 
act of excision. The exciting occasions of the strife had 
passed away ; the more aggressive spirits had been re- 
moved from the scene ; the disorders which accompanied 
the early movements of Methodism had ceased ; the zeal 
of the Tennents and their associates had cooled, and 
they were ready to confess that mistakes had been made : 
the Log College had passed out of existence, and the 
College of New Jersey had arisen in its place, — an insti- 
tution of learning which satisfied all the requirements of 
both sides of the Presbyterian Church ; the old side had 
failed in their efforts to erect a college ; their opposition 
to Methodism had resulted in a stationary church, while 
the new side had increased to fourfold their numbers 
and influence ; the old side had found it exceedingly 
difficult to secure ministers, either from the old world or 
the new, who would submit to their rigid subscription 
and stiff discipline ; accordingly they were inclined to 
yield in these items, which placed them in isolation from 
the Presbyterian world, and threatened their Synod with 

(317) 



318 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

Speedy death. The difficulties were at last happily ad- 
justed, and the two Synods combined May 22, 1758, in 
Philadelphia, in a plan of union which was really a re- 
affirmation of the Adopting Act of 1729.'^ 

I. — THE PLAN OF UNION. 

The Plan of Union adjusted all the differences, and 
brought the two bodies into harmonious agreement. 

(i) The differences as to Methodism were adjusted by 
the following agreement : 

" This united Synod agree in declaring, that as all mankind 
are naturally dead in trespasses and sins an entire change of 
heart and life is necessary to make them meet for the service 
and enjoyment of God ; that such a change can be only effected 
by the powerful operations of the Divine Spirit ; that when sin- 
ners are made sensible of their lost condition and absolute ina- 
bility to recover themselves, are enlightened in the knowledge 
of Christ and convinced of his ability and willingness to save, 
and upon gospel encouragements do choose him for their Sav- 
iour, and renouncing their own righteousness in point of merit, 
depend upon his imputed righteousness for their justification 
before God, and on his wisdom and strength for guidance and 
support ; when upon these apprehensions and exercises their 
souls are comforted, notwithstanding all their past guilt, and re- 
joice in God through Jesus Christ ; when they hate and bewail 
their sins of heart and life, delight in the laws of God without 
exception, reverently and diligently attend his ordinances, be- 
come humble and selfdenied, and make it the business of their 
lives to please and glorify God and to do good to their fellow 
men ; this is to be acknowledged as a gracious work of God, 
even though it should be attended with unusual bodily commo- 
tions or some more exceptionable circumstances, by means of 
infirmity, temptations, or remaining corruptions ; and wherever 
religious appearances are attended with the good effects above 
mentioned, we desire to rejoice in and thank God for them. But on 
the other hand, when persons seeming to be under a religious con- 
cern imagine that they have visions of the human nature of Jesus 



* See Appendix XXXI. for the Plan of Union. 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 319 

Christ, or hear voices or see external lights or have fainting and 
convulsion like fits, and on the account of these judge them- 
selves to be truly converted, though they have not the Scrip- 
tural characters of a work of God above described, we believe 
such persons are under a dangerous delusion. And we testify 
our utter disapprobation of such a delusion, wherever it attends 
any religious appearances, in any church or time." {Records, 
p. 287.) 

(2) The arbitrary Act of Excision of 1741 was removed 
by the declaration of the Synod of Philadelphia that 

" They never judicially adopted the said protestation, nor do 
account it a Synodical act, but that it is to be considered as the 
act of those only who subscribed it." 

(3) The different views as to discipline were harmo- 
nized by the agreement 

" That when any matter is determined by a major vote, every 
member shall either actively concur with, or passively submit to, 
such determination ; or if his conscience permit him to do nei- 
ther, he shall, after sufficient liberty modestly to reason and re- 
monstrate, peaceably withdraw from our communion without 
attempting to make any schism. Provided always, that this 
shall be understood to extend only to such determinations as 
the body shall judge indispensable in doctrine and Presbyterian 
government." 

We see in the phrase " indispensable in doctrine and 
Presbyterian government " only a synonym of the '^ essen- 
tial and necessary articles'' and " agreeable in substance to 
the Word of God'' of the' Adopting Act of 1729. 

(4) The difference as to subscription was harmonized 
in the declaration, — 

" Both Synods having always approved and received the West- 
minster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms 
as an orthodox and excellent system of Christian doctrine, 
founded on the Word of God, we do still receive the same as the 
confession of our faith, and also adhere to the plan of worship. 



320 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

government, and discipline contained in the Vv estminster Direc- 
tory, strictly enjoining it on all our members and probationers 
for the ministry, that they preach and teach according to the 
form of sound words in said Confession and Catechisms, and 
avoid and oppose all errors contrary thereto," 

The emphasized phrase ''orthodox and excellent system 
of Christian doctrine " is only the language of the Adopt- 
ing Act of 1729 *' as being in all the essential and necessary 
articles good forms of sound words, and systems of Chris- 
tian doctrine,'' in slightly different language. The sys- 
tem of Christian doctrine contained in the Westminster 
Standards was adopted, and this embraced only that 
which was " indispensable in doctrine or Presbyterian 
government," that which was "essential and necessary" 
to the Westminster system. 

The Synod of New York and Philadelphia fell back 
upon the Adopting Act of 1729, and declined to follow 
the strict views of subscription of the Synod of Philadel- 
phia as expressed in the Declarator}^ Act of 1736. 

The position of the Synod of New York was well ex- 
pressed in their ultimatum in 1753 : 

" That difference in judgment should not oblige a dissenting 
member to withdraw from our communion, unless the matter 
were judged by the body to be essential in doctrine and disci- 
pline. And this, we must own is an im.portant article with us, 
which v^•e cannot any way dispense with ; and it appears to us to 
be strictly Christian and Scriptural, as well as Presbyterian, oth- 
erwise we must make everything that appears plain duty to us a 
term of communion, which we apprehend the Scripture prohib- 
its. And it appears plain to us that there may be many opinions 
relating to the great truths of religion that are not great them- 
selves, nor of sufficient importance to be made terms of com- 
munion. Nor can these sentiments ' open a door to an unjusti- 
fiable latitude in principles and practices,' any more than the 
apostolic prohibition of receiving those that are weak to doubtful 
disputations. What is plain sin and plain duty in one's account, 
is not so in another's ; and the Synod has still in their power to 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 321 

judge what is essential and what is not. In order to prevent an 
unjustifiable latitude, we must not make terms of communion 
which Christ has not made, and we are convinced that He hath 
not made every truth and every duty a term." {Records, p. 254.) 

The Synod of New York insisted upon these judicious 
views, until at last they were incorporated in the decla- 
ration of reunion, in the terms, " orthodox and excellent 
system of Christian doctrine," and " only such determi- 
nations as the body shall judge indispensable in doctrine 
or Presbyterial government." 

There was a heresy trial in the Synod of New York 
which was not completed until the reunion. Samuel 
Harker was finally in 1763 declared disqualified to exer- 
cise the ministerial ofifice : 

" As he has departed from the truth, and opposed this Church 
in some important articles, and misrepresented the Church of 
Scotland, his doctrine and practice have a schismatical tend- 
ency." {Records, p. 330.) 

Mr. Harker made a written Appeal to the Christian 
World against the Synod. John Blair, who had been 
familiar with the case from the beginning in the New Side 
Presbytery of New Brunswick, published a reply, giving 
a " New Side " view of the Adopting Act of 1729, which 
was regarded as still in force : 

" He (Mr. Harker) would have it believed to be a violation of 
an Act of Synod, A.D. 1729, which he calls one of the great Arti- 
cles of their Union, and which he thought sufficiently secured the 
right of private judgment, wherein it is provided that a ininisttr 
or candidate shall be admitted notwithstanding scruples respecting 
article or articles the Synod or Presbytery shall judge not essential 
or necessary in doctrine, worship, and government. But in 
order to improve this to his purpose, he takes the words essential 
or necessary in a sense in which it is plain from the Act itself the 
Synod never intended they should be taken. He would have 
them to signify what is essential to 'Communion with Jesus 
Christ,' or the Being of Grace in the heart, and accordingly sup- 
21 



322 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

poses that no error can be essential which is not of such malig- 
nity as to exclude the advocate or maintainer of it from com- 
munion with Jesus Christ. But the Synod say essential in Doc- 
irme, Worship, and Governitient—i. <?., essential to the system of 
doctrine contained in our Westminster Confession of Faith con- 
sidered as a system, and to the mode of worship and plan of 
government contained in our Directory." {The Synod of New 
York and Philadelphia Vindicated. Philadelphia, 1765, pp. 
10, II.) 

There can be no doubt that John Blair correctly in- 
terprets the Adopting Act of 1729, and also the views of 
the Reunion Synod of 1763 : 

" That, therefore, is an essential error in the Synod's sense, 
which is of such malignity as to subvert or greatly injure the 
system of doctrine and mode of worship and government con- 
tained in the Westminster Confession of Faith and Directory." 

II. — MISSIONARY ENTERPRISES. 

The Reunion was signalized by the establishment of 
a " Fund for the Relief of poor Presbyterian ministers 
and ministers' widows and children." The immediate 
occasion of this movement was the long and bloody 
French and Indian war, which caused great distress 
among the ministers laboring on the frontiers of Penn- 
sylvania, Maiyland, Virginia, and North Carolina. In 
1759 a charter was brought into the Synod and thank- 
fully accepted. Messrs. Robert Cross, Gilbert Tennent, 
Francis Alison, Samuel Finley, Charles Beatty, John 
Blair, and Richard Treat were appointed a committee to 
prepare a plan for the regulation and management of 
the Fund, and "to move the corporation to appoint 
proper persons to take subscriptions that the matter 
may not be delayed a whole year longer." * Charles 
Beatty was sent to Great Britain as an agent of the cor- 

* Records^ p. 296. 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 323 

poration, to solicit funds in its behalf. He appeared 
before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 
and, at his desire, a national collection was ordered. May 
.26, 1760, which soon amounted to ;^i, 284.4/1 1. He 
also applied to the Associate (Burger) Synod for aid, 
and a collection was made in the bounds of that Synod 
amounting to ;^I38.'^ 

The Presbyterians of England and Ireland also con- 
tributed liberally to the cause. 

In 1772, the attention of the Synod was called to the 
importance of distributing religious books. It is aston- 
ishing that American Presbyterians should have been so 
backward in this department of missions. The devout 
and energetic Dr. Bray, in 1698, had organized the So- 
ciety for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, to fur- 
nish Bibles, prayer-books, and religious treatises to the 
destitute, and to erect parochial libraries in struggling 
churches.f This gave the Episcopal Church in America 
a great advantage, especially in Virginia, Maryland, and 
South Carolina. Moreover, the Presbyterians of Scotland, 
in 1709, had organized the Society in Scotland for Propa- 
gating Christian Knowledge. :j: This Society was always 
ready to help the American Presbyterian Church, and 
would have rendered important assistance to the Synod if 
they had undertaken the distribution of a religious litera- 
ture at an earlier date. But the American Presbyterians 
were absorbed in efforts to preach the gospel, and seem 
to have overlooked the important work of evangeliza- 
tion and religious culture which may be accomplished by 
the printed page. However, in 1773, committees were 
appointed in New York and Philadelphia, and each com- 



* See Appendix XXXII. for the Acts of these two Scottish Churches and the let- 
ters of acknowledgment from the Corporation. 

t See p. 136. J See p. 297. 



32i AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

mittee was allowed to draw upon the Synod's funds to 
the extent of ;f 20 for this purpose. 

The books specified for distribution were : Bibles, the 
Westminster Confession and Catechisms, Vincent's Cate- 
chism, Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion^ All- 
eine's Alarm to the Unconverted, Watts' Divine Songs for 
Children, and A Compassionate Address to the Christian 
World."" 

The Synod continued to prosecute missions to the 
American Indians with the help of the Society in Scot- 
land for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. John 
Brainerd re-entered their service in 1759, and took charge 
of the mission at the Indian Reservation in Southern 
New Jersey.f 

The converted Indians were enlisted in the colonial 
army ; considerable numbers were slain, others were cap- 
tured and never returned to their homes ; many of those 
who tarried at home died of consumption and fevers, 
so that the settlement did not increase. The gospel 
was powerful in their conversion and consecration ; but 
it was impossible to erect self-supporting churches among 
them.:}: 

In November, 1761, Eleazar Wheelock, of Lebanon, 
Conn., and David Bostwick, of New York, applied to 
the Society in Scotland for aid in mission work among 
the Oneida Indians, and recommended Mr. Samson 
Occom as a suitable missionary. The Society under- 
took to aid in the work to the amount of ;^20.§ In 

* Records^ pp. 428, 429, 441 ; E. H. Gillett, in /. c, pp. 166-167. 

+ This land was purchased and secured for the Indians by the government of 
New Jersey, in accordance with a treaty by which they relinquished their claims 
to all other lands in the province. See p. 303. 

X See Letter of John Brainerd in Sprague's Annals, III., pp. 151 seq. 

% Mr. Occom was an Indian of the Mohegan tribe ; he was converted in 1741 
in the Great Awakening when eighteen years of age ; he became the first pupil 
of Mr, Wheelock's Indian school at Lebanon, Conn.; was ordained by the 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 325 

1763 Mr. Wheelock and his friends proposed to the 
Society to put his Indian school in charge of a corpora- 
tion of thirteen persons, who should be appointed com- 
missioners of the Society in Scotland. This proposition 
was accepted; and in 1766 Mr. Occom and Mr. Na- 
thaniel Whitaker went to Great Britain, as agents of 
the school, to solicit funds for its enlargement and sup- 
port. Mr. Occom was the first Indian preacher who 
had appeared in Great Britain ; and he excited great 
interest in the cause, so that i^ 10,000 were raised for 
this object.* 

Mr. Occom, after his return, continued to labor among 
the Indians, especially on the Brotherton tract, in Oneida 
county, N.Y., until his death in 1792.! 

In 1766 Messrs. Charles Beatty and George Duffield 
were, at the request of the Corporation of the Widows' 
Fund, sent as missionaries to the frontier of the prov- 
ince. They were accompanied by Joseph Peepy, a 
Christian Indian, as an interpreter. They reported to 
the Synod that : 

" They visited the Indians at the chief town of the Delaware 
nation, on the Muskingum, about 130 miles beyond Fort Pitt, 
and were received much more cheerfully than they could have 
expected. That a considerable number of them waited on the 
preaching of the gospel with peculiar attention, many of them 
appearing solemnly concerned about the great matters of re- 



Presbytery of Suffolk, August 30, 1759, after some considerable success in 
preaching as a licentiate among the Indians of Long Island. (See Sprague, 
Annals, III., pp. 191 seq.) 

* See Sprague, Annals, III., p. 193. We should judge that at least ;^2,coo 
were raised in Scotland, for on June 2, 1768, the Committee of the Society in Scot- 
land reported to the Society "that the contributions already received for the 
support of the Rev. Mr. Wheelock's Indian Academy amount to £-2,000 sterling, 
which sum they had lent out upon the personal securitys, the interest whereof at 
the rate of 5 per cent, is to be annually applied for the support of said Academy 
in such a manner as the Society shall judge most proper." (See M^. Mi?ttctes.) 

t Sprague, Annals, in /. c, III., p. 194. 



326 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

ligion, that they expressed an earnest desire of having further 
opportunities of hearing those things ; that they informed them, 
that several other tribes of Indians around them were ready to 
join with them in receiving the gospel, and earnestly desiring an 
opportunity. -Upon the whole, that there does appear a very 
agreeable prospect of a door opening for the gospel being spread 
among these poor benighted savage tribes." * 

In consequence of this favorable report, the Synod in 
1767 appointed John Brainerd and Robert Cooper "to 
pay a visit to our frontier settlements and the Indians 
on Muskingum and other places, and tarry with them at 
least 3 months this summer, provided the report brought 
back by the Indian interpreter, Joseph, from them, and 
delivered to the Rev. Dr. Alison and Messrs. Treat, 
Beatty and Ewing proves encouraging." In 1768 Brain- 
erd and Cooper reported that " they did not execute 
their mission " by " reason of the discouraging accounts 
brought in by the interpreter Joseph." The Synod 
then appointed a large Committee " to draw up and 
concert a general plan to propagate the gospel among 
these benighted people." The Committee reported that 
it was inexpedient as yet to enter on that important 
work. 

Mr. Charles Beatty, while in Scotland in 1768, recom- 
mended the Society for Propagating Christian Knowl- 
edge to appoint Commissioners in New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania to conduct missions to the Indians. Ac- 
cordingly the Trustees of the College of New Jersey were 
appointed, with two additional ministers, in 1769. These 
engaged Mr. Kirkland, who labored among the Indians 
with considerable success. 

In 1774 a representation from Dr. Ezra Stiles and 
Samuel Hopkins was laid before the Synod, proposing 



* Records, p. 375. See also Mr. Beatty's Journal, published by Arch. 
Alexander in his Log College, pp. 271 seq. 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 327 

the sending of two natives of Africa, who had been 
converted to Christianity, "on a mission to propagate 
Christianity in their native country"; and requesting that 
the Synod would approve of the plan and give it their 
assistance. The Synod resolved : 

" The Synod is very happy to have an opportunity to express 
their readiness to concur with and assist in a mission to the 
African tribes, and especially where so many circumstances con- 
cur as in the present case, to intimate that it is the will of God, 
and to encourage us to hope for success. We assure the gentle- 
men aforesaid, we are ready to do all that is proper for us in our 
station for their encouragement and assistance." {Records, p. 
45. 

In the same year Dr. Stiles and Mr. Hopkins wrote 
to the Society in Scotland, giving an account of these 
two negroes, representing that they were in the College 
of New Jersey preparing for a mission to Africa, stating 
that it was proposed to send them to the coast of 
Guinea when properly instructed, and intimating that 
there was a favorable opening in that place. 

This promising mission to Africa, in which New Eng- 
land Congregationalists and American and Scotch Pres- 
byterians were to co-operate, was unhappily prevented 
by the outbreak of the war of the American Revolution. 
The effort was earnest and well considered, and it shows 
the readiness of the American Presbyterian Church to 
engage in foreign mission work. 

The missionary enterprises of the American Presby- 
terian Church were expanding far beyond the ability of 
the churches to conduct them. Home Missions, Foreign 
Missions, Education, Ministerial Relief, and Distribution 
of Religious Books were all in operation. The founda- 
tions were laid for those great Boards which are now the 
glory and pride of American Presbyterianism. 



328 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

III.— GROWTH IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. 

The Reunion was soon followed by the erection of 
the Presbytery of Hanover, composed of Messrs. Alex. 
Craighead, Samuel Black, John Craig, Alexander Miller, 
Samuel Davies, John Todd, Robert Henry, John Wright, 
John Brown, and John Martin, in Virginia and south- 
ward, embracing ministers from both sides of the 
Church.* This frontier Presbytery became a centre of 
evangelistic work which extended into South Carolina, 
Georgia, and Tennessee. It gave birth to the Presby- 
tery of Orange in 1770, composed of Hugh McCadden, 
Henry Patillo, James Criswell, Joseph Alexander, Heze- 
kiah J. Balch, and Hezekiah Balch of North Carolina. 

The extension of the work of the Synod into South 
Carolina and Georgia brought its ministers into contact 
with the ministers of the Presbytery in South Carolina. 
This Presbytery in 1770 signified their desire to unite 
with the Synod, and requested to be informed of the 
terms of Union. The Synod replied that the only con- 
ditions were 

" that all your ministers acknowledge and adopt as the standard 
of doctrine, the Westminster Confession of Faith and Cate- 
chisms, and the Directory as the plan of your worship and disci- 
pline. The Church of Scotland is considered by this Synod as 
their pattern in general ; but we have not as yet expressly 
adopted, by resolution of Synod, or bound ourselves to any 
other of the standing laws or forms of the Church of Scotland, 
than those above mentioned, intending to lay down such rules 
for ourselves upon Presbyterian principles in general, as circum- 
stances should from time to time show to be expedient." {Rec- 
ords, p. 409.) 

We have already traced the history of Presbyterianism 
in South Carolina until the rupture in 173 i.f In Charles- 

* Records^ p, 289 ; Foote, Sketches of Virginia^ II. Series, pp. 72 seq, 

♦ See pp. 127 seq. ^ 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 329 

ton there were two Presbyterian churches, the English, 
whose minister was Josiah Smith, and the Scots, organ- 
ized as a secession church in 1731. John Osgood became 
the successor of Hugh Fisher at Dorchester in 1734-5, 
but the church removed with its pastor to Midway, 
Georgia, in 1754.'^ 

October 15, 1735, John McLeod, of the Isle of Skye, 
was ordained by the Presbytery of Edinburgh, and sent 
over with the Highland colony to Darien, Georgia, under 
the auspices of the Society in Scotland for the Propaga- 
tion of Christian Knowledge. Gov. Oglethorp contrib- 
uted £$0 for the purpose. The colony became involved 
in the disastrous expedition against St. Augustine, and 
was virtually destroyed. McLeod in 1742 removed to 
Edisto Island, South Carolina, and settled there as pas- 
tor. He writes to the Society in Scotland, April, 1742 : 
" that the Presbytery there consists of 6 ministers and 
they are sending calls to two more whom the people are 
to maintain and are to apply to this Society for two 
missionaries in respect the salary in Georgia is now 
vacant." f 

In November, 1763, Alexander Hewatt arrived in 
Charleston from Scotland, and became pastor of the 
Scots church, where he remained until the outbreak of 
the war of the Revolution, when he returned to Scot- 
land.:]: In 1760 William Richardson was dismissed from 
the Presbytery of New York to unite with the Presby- 
tery of South Carolina. He was followed in 1768 by 
James Latta from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and 
in 1770 by John Maltby from the Presbytery of New 
York.§ It was probably through the influence of these 



* E. H. Gillett, in /. c, pp. 242 se^. + MS. Minutes, S. P. C. K. 

X Sprag^ue, Annals^ III., pp. 252 seq. 

% Records, pp. 307, 378 ; E. H. Gillett, in /. c., L, p. 249. 



330 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

ministers that efforts for union were made ; but for some 
unknown reason they were not prosecuted by the Presby- 
tery of South CaroHna ; so that the Presbyterians in this 
colony remained separate during the entire colonial 
period. 

IV.— GROWTH IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES. 

While the Synod of New York and Philadelphia was 
extending southward, it was also spreading westward 
and northward, and increasing its strength in the older 
settlements. In 1763 the Presbytery of Dutchess was 
received into the Synod, and it was enlarged by attach- 
ing to it John Smith and Chauncy Graham from the 
Presbytery of New York, and Samuel Sacket and Eli- 
phalet Ball of the Presbytery of Suffolk, and it was 
given the name of Dutchess County Presbytery.* The 
reception of these churches and ministers into the Synod 
did not disturb the friendly relations with the conso- 
ciated churches of Connecticut. But an effort was made 
for closer co-operation and union between the two bodies. 

In 1766 an overture was brought into the Synod to 
obtain more correspondence between this Synod and the 
consociated churches in Connecticut, and Commissioners 
were appointed to meet Commissioners from the Con- 
necticut churches. f The Convention was held at Eliza- 
bethtown, November 5, 1766, and ''a plan of union" 
framed, which was submitted to the Synod in 1767, 
*' seriously considered and amended," and Commissioners 
again appointed. The second Convention was held at 
New Haven, September 10, 1767. The amendments 



* This Presbytery was organized by Elisha Kent, Solomon Mead, and Joseph 
Peck, October 27, 1762. They were pastors of churches organized among set- 
tlers who had removed chiefly from Connecticut, {Early Preshyterianisjn to 
the East of the HudsoJt^ in Atnerican Presbyterian Review, 1868, p. 618.) 

t Records, p. 364. 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 33I 

proposed by the Synod were accepted and the plan as 
amended adopted.* The Conventions were held annu- 
ally alternately in the bounds of Connecticut and in the 
bounds of the Synod, and were productive of great 
good. Neither body encroached upon the other's terri- 
tory, and the co-operation and harmony were complete 
until the close of the colonial period. 

The Synod had difficulty in securing a sufficient num- 
ber of ministers to supply the increasing churches, and 
yet it continued to raise the standard of ministerial edu- 
cation so far as was practicable. 

In 1760 an overture was brought into Synod, 

" That as a Professor of Divinity, to instruct youths for the 
sacred ministry, is much wanted, and highly necessary, the Synod 
would try to fall upon some measures to obtain one. And the 
Synod sensible of the need and importance of this, earnestly 
recommend the consideration of it to every Presbytery, that they 
may consult together how this may be accomplished, and en- 
deavour to make the people under their care sensible of the im- 
portance of it : also, that they may be prepared and disposed to 
contribute to so good a design." {Records, p. 303.) 

This action of the Synod seems to have had no imme- 
diate effect; but in 1768 a supplication was brought in 
from the Trustees of the College of N. J., praying assist- 
ance in supporting a Professor of Divinity " from the 
last year's collection." The Synod declined the appHca- 
tion ; but ordered a 

"general collection to be made for this purpose, in all our congre- 
gations : and that the money raised by this separate collection be 
applied particularly by this Synod yearly, for this purpose till ex- 
pended ; and in the meantime in order to assist in supporting a 
Professor of Divinity in said college, the Synod do agree to give 
the present Professor the sum of fifty pounds out of the money 
now in the hands of our treasurer, to be refunded next year." 
{Records, p. 386.) 



* See Records^ p. 374. 



332 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

Aug. 17, 1768, Dr. John Witherspoon was inaugu- 
rated president of the College of New Jersey. He was 
a man of power and influence in Scotland, and brought 
with him to the new world a considerable reputation. 
He was a great gain to the American Presbyterian 
Church, and exerted an important influence upon its 
destinies. He was appointed Professor of Divinity,^ as 
well as president of the college, and also introduced the 
study of the Hebrew language. In 1772 a special pro- 
fessor of Hebrew was appointed, but he seems not to 
have entered upon his duties, and the department re- 
mained in charge of the President.-)- 

Dr. John Rodgers represents that 

" Almost the first benefit which it (the college) received, be- 
sides eclat and the accessions of students procured to it by the 
fame of his literary character was the augmentation of its funds. 
The college has never enjoyed any resources from the State. It 
was founded, and has been supported wholly by private Hberality 
and zeal. And its finances, from a variety of causes were in a 
low and declining condition, at the period when Dr. Wither- 
spoon arrived in America. But his reputation excited an un- 
common liberality in the public ; and his personal exertions, ex- 
tended from Massachusetts to Virginia, soon raised its funds to a 

flourishing state But the principal advantages it derived, 

were from his literature ; his superintendency ; his example as a 
happy model of good writing; and from the tone and taste 
which he gave to the literary pursuits of the college." {^Funeral 
Discourse in Works of John Witherspoon, 2d edition, Philadel- 
phia, 1802, I., pp. 29-30.) 

Witherspoon also wrote an Address to the inhabitants 
of Jamaica and other West India Islands in behalf of the 



* His Lectures on Divinity were published in his collected Works^ Vol. IV., 
pp. 9-123. 

t See Sprague, Annals, III,, pp. 292 seq. In 1769 the Synod " agreed to give the 
Trustees of the College of New Jersey toward supporting a Professor of Divinity 
in that institution 60 pounds for the last year, and 60 pounds for the current year 
out of the collections made in our congregations for this purpose, agjeeable to 
an order of last session." {Records, p. 399.) 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 333 

college in 1772, and sent it by Charles Beatty and his 
son, who went thither as agents under the direction of 
the Trustees. He pleads for it as a college which 

"hath been conducted upon the most catholic principles. 
.... He is a passionate admirer of the equal and impartial sup- 
port of every religious denomination which prevails in the 
northern colonies, and is perfect in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys, 
to the unspeakable advantage of those happy and well constitu- 
ted governments." ( Works, Vol. IV., p. 202.) 

In 1768 the Synod entered into correspondence with 
the Foreign Presbyterian Churches, and letters were writ- 
ten to the Church of Geneva, the Synod of North Hol- 
land, the Church of Switzerland, the Church of Scotland, 
the Synod of seceding ministers in Scotland, the minis- 
ters in and about London, the Synod of Ireland, the 
churches in South Carolina, and the ministers in and 
about. Dublin.^ 

The strength of the Synod in 1769, according to its 
own official statement, was 

*' ten Presbyteries which contain from the accounts taken this 
year one hundred and twenty-seven ministers ; besides these, 
there are about two hundred vacancies, that is to say, congrega- 
tions or societys formed, altho not as yet having houses built for 
publick worship, and depending on this Synod for supply ; a 
great number of these could support ministers singly, if they 
could procure them, and the rest by joining two or three together, 
and from the rapid population of the country, new societys are 
formed every year, and the old increase in number." (See Ap- 
pendix XXXIII.) 

The Synod were exceedingly anxious to receive able 
and pious ministers from Great Britain, but were con- 
stantly imposed upon by weak and scandalous men, who 
removed to America to escape from ecclesiastical censure 



^Records, p. 386. The letter to the Church of Scotland is given in Appendix 
XXXIII. 



334: AMEKICAN PRESBTTERIAISnSM. 

in their own land. The Synod was greatly agitated in 
1773 and 1774 by a dispute over the rights of Presby- 
teries and the authority of the Synod in this matter. 
The Synod was on the verge of the old difficulties of 
1 74 1, but a happy compromise was reached in an Act pre- 
pared by Dr. John Rodgers in 1774, which was unani- 
mously adopted: 

" They do most earnestly recommend it to all their Presby- 
teries to be very strict and careful respecting these matters, es- 
pecially in examining the certificates and testimonials of minis- 
ters or probationers who come from foreign churches ; and that 
they be very cautious about receiving them, unless the authen- 
ticity of their certificates and testimonials be supported by pri- 
vate letters or other credible and sufficient evidence ; and in or- 
der more effectually to preserve this Synod, our Presbyteries, 
and congregations from imposition and abuse, every year when 
any Presb)rtery may report that they have received any ministers 
or probationers from foreign churches, that Presbytery shall lay 
before the Synod the testimonials, and all other certificates upon 
which they received such ministers or probationers, for the satis- 
faction of the Synod, before such foreign ministers or probationers 
shall be enrolled as members of our body ; and if the Synod shall 
find the said testimonials false or insufficient, the whole pro- 
ceedings had by the Presbytery in the admission shall be held to 
be void ; and the Presbytery shall not from that time receive or 
acknowledge him as a member of this body, or in ministerial 
communion with us. And on the other hand, whenever any 
gentlemen from abroad shall come duly recommended as above, 
we will gladly receive them as brethren, and give them every 
encouragement in our power." {Records, pp. 45$, 456.) 

The strength of the Synod of New York and Phila- 
delphia at the outbreak of the war of the Revolution 
may be estimated as one hundred and thirty-two minis- 
ters, embraced in eleven Presbyteries. 

V. — THE GROWTH OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW 
ENGLAND. 

May 17, 1775, the Synod met in Philadelphia. Dr. 
Nathaniel Whitaker, of the Presbytery of Boston, was 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 335 

present, and was invited to sit as a corresponding mem- 
ber. He asked aid for his church at Salem, Mass., 
and presented an earnest appeal from the Presbytery of 
Boston in its behalf. 

Presbyterianism in New England had an eventful 
history from 1745 to 1775. The ministers excluded by 
the Presbytery of Londonderry in 1736* remained with- 
out Presbyterial organization until April 16, 1745, when 
Messrs. Moorehead, McGregorie, and Abercrombie con- 
stituted the Presbytery of Boston. f They received 
Jonathan Parsons, of Newbury, in 1748 ; ordained Alex- 
ander McDowell in 1753, a Mr. Burns, Samuel McClin- 
tock, and John Houston in 1757. They had grown into a 
body of twelve members in 1768. :j: 

Disputes between Mr. Abercrombie and his congre- 
gation began in 1748, and continued to disturb the 
Presbytery for several years until at last, on May 14, 
1755, he declined the authority of the Presbytery, and 
was suspended from the ministry and his pastorate at 
Pelham, on the ground that *'he refuses to retract or 
make satisfaction for the false and injurious things in- 
sinuated." He insisted that the Presbytery should 
apply the rules of discipline of the Church of Scotland 
to his case, but they declined and claimed the right, as 
an independent ecclesiastical body, to make their own 
rules. It was at this meeting of the Presbytery of 
Boston that the Presbytery of New York applied for 
D. McGregorie for the church in New York City.§ 
But McGregorie declined. He was needed to quiet the 
strife in the Presbytery of Boston more than to heal the 

* See p. 229. 

t See Rejoinder to the Rev. Mr. Robert Abercrombie'' s late Remarks on a 
fair Narrative of the Proceediftgs 0/ the Presbytery 0/ Boston against himself 
&'c. By J. Parsons and D. McGregorie. Published by order of said Presby- 
tery. Boston, 1758. 

X Alex. Blaikie, in /. c, p. 145. § See p. 282. 



336 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

difficulties in the Presbyterian Church of New York 
City. Mr. Abercrombie published his statement in 
1754,'^ and was answered by the order of Presbytery 
in 1756. f The question in dispute is thus presented: 

" When after a series of events, by which the Presbyterial 
meetings had been interrupted for several years ; we agreed to 
renew said meetings, in order thereunto, having endeavoured to 
ask divine direction and help by prayer and fasting in our re- 
spective congregations, having likewise consulted with the 
elders and people of our congregations, we did with their unani- 
mous advice, and concurrence, actually meet and constitute as a 
classical Presbytery, and have continued to act as such, without 
interruption, for the space of about 13 years; that our formula 
of subscription contained in our Presbytery Book, binds us not 
only to the Westminster Confession of Faith & Catechisms ; but 
to the Presbyterian Church Government & Discipline. To this 
formula all the ministers, and preachers belonging to the Presb., 
either have subscribed, or are under a solemn verbal engage- 
ment to subscribe, which engagement, they stand ready at any 
time to fulfil. But if Mr. Abercrombie say, that all this does not 
render us a Presbytery duly constituted ; but that in order to our 
being so, we must adopt some particular body of church canons, 
or laws ; that these are to be pleaded in our judicatures, in trials 
in the same manner that the Acts of Pari, are in civil courts ; 
that we are not at liberty to adopt any of the Acts of the Church 
of Ireland, or France, or Geneva, or any other Presbyterian 
church, but are obliged to confine ourselves wholly to the 
church of Scotland ; and even to her acts in such & such parti- 
cular periods ; exclusive of all other periods ; that we have not 
an equal right by the great charter of Christians, with the church 
of Ireland or Scotland, or other sister churches, to make such 



* An Account of the Proceedings of the Presbytery whereof the Rev. Mr. 
Moorehead, <2r»r., are members against the Rev. Mr. Robert Abercroftibie. In 
a letter to a friend. Boston, 1754. 

t A Pair Narrative of the Proceedings of the Presbytery of Boston against 
the Rev. Mr. Robert Abercrombie^ late minister of the gospel at Pelham., 
together with some remarks in a pamphlet of his inforin of a letter to a friend. 
By John Moorehead, Jonathan Parsons, David McGregorie, Com. of Presbytery. 
Boston, 1756. 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 33^ 

acts from time to time, for the regulation of our conduct, in our 
judicatures, as we judge agreeable to Presbyterian principles, 
founded on the Word of God— let him assert them plainly, and 
produce his arguments, that it may be seen — whose sentiments 
are most agreeable to Scripture and Reason, and to Presbyterian 
principles founded upon them." {Fair Narrative, pp. 34 seq?) 

This statement is important as showing the spirit 
which animated the Presbytery of Boston. It felt that 
it was an independent ecclesiastical body, with the same 
rights and privileges as those possessed by the Presby- 
terian bodies of other lands and colonies. 

The original Presbytery of Londonderry passed out 
of existence by the scattering of its ministers and its 
failure to increase.* 

But June 27, 1771, John Murray,f of Boothby, Maine, 
united with Joseph Prince and John Miller in the 
erection of the " First Presbytery at the Eastward," 
They received Nathaniel Ewer in 1774, and in the same 
year sent a Committee to the Presbytery of Boston at 
Salem to express their readiness to unite with them in 
constituting a Synod. The Presbytery of Boston organ- 
ized themselves into a Synod at Seabrook, New Hamp- 
shire, June 2, 1775, composed of three Presbyteries: 
Newburyport with six ministers ; Londonderry with 
four; and Palmer with six; in all, 16 ministers and 25 

* "The last reference to this judicatory appears in the Records of Dutchess 
Presbytery, Sept. 9, 1765, when the Rev. Samuel Dunlap, of Cherry Valley, 
was received as a member, the ' Presbytery to the eastward of Boston,' to which 
he belonged, ' being incapable of sitting by reason of the dispersion of its mem- 
bers.'" This is the statement of Webster (in /. ^., p. 253). But it was still in 
existence in 1771, when the Presbytery "at the Eastward" wrote to it about the 
erection of a Synod. (Blaikie, in /. c. , p. 149. ) 

t John Murray had been ordained a minister of the first Presbytery of Phila 
delphia in 1765, and installed pastor of the second church of Philadelphia. He 
was dismissed in good standing, but subsequently his dismission was recalled, 
and he was suspended and finally deposed. He disregarded these Presbyterial 
acts as illegal, and accepted a call to Boothby, Maine, where he was installed in 
August, 1766. (See Blaikie, in /. c, p. 148.) 

22 



338 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

churches. They declined to receive the Presbytery at 
the Eastward. ' • 

There was an independent Presbytery of Grafton, 
New Hampshire, constituted at this time by Eleazar 
Wheelock and others. In 1774 Mr. Hutchinson peti- 
tioned the Presbytery of Boston for permission to 
organize a Presbytery of Dartmouth, and he was recom- 
mended to use his efforts to accomplish it. Messrs. 
Hutchinson and Gilmore were assigned to the Presby- 
tery of Palmer, but did not appear in the Synod. It is 
probable that these two ministers united with Eleazar 
Wheelock and others in organizing the Presbytery of 
Grafton. The strength of Presbyterianism in New Eng- 
land at the outbreak of the war of the Revolution was 
one Synod of three Presbyteries and fourteen ministers, 
and two independent Presbyteries of several ministers 
each. 

VI. — EFFORTS FOR UNION WITH THE SECEDERS. 

In 1769 a Committee was appointed by the Synod of 
New York and Philadelphia, at the request of several 
seceding ministers, '' to converse with them, with a view 
to bring about an union betwixt them and this Synod." 

The Associate Presbytery was strengthened in 1761 
by the arrival of John Mason, who had been called to 
the pastorate of the Scots church in New York City, and 
William Annan, a probationer. But Alexander Gellatly 
died April 12, 1761, leaving but two members of the 
Presbytery, James Proudfoot and Matthew Henderson, 
to receive John Mason and William Annan. In 1764 
they were joined by William Marshall and in 1766 by 
James Murdock.* John Mason at once became the 
leading mind among the Seceders in America, and turn- 

* JdhnllLcKexvoiw^ History 0/ the Secession Church. Revised edition. Ed- 
inburgh, 1845, I., pp. 297 seq. 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 339 

ed their thoughts in the direction of union with other 
Presbyterian bodies. 

In 1764 the Burger Presbytery of Down, in Ireland, 
sent over Thomas Clark to the province of New York, 
and in 1765 the Burger Synod received the following 
appeal from Philadelphia, dated Feb. 14 : 

— "setting forth the great prevalence of error in the doctrine, dis- 
cipline and government of the church in that place ; that many 
are complaining of the growing defections of the day ; and tho' 
few have had the courage to join them in their present supplica- 
tion for relief yet the petitioners express their firm expectation 
that had they an opportunity of hearing the precious doctrines of 
the gospel purely preached unto them, as some of the petitioners 
have heard these doctrines preached by the ministers of the Se- 
cession a large congregation would soon be gathered in that 
city, wherefore the Petitioners earnestly crave that the Synod 
may send over one of their number to labour in word and doc- 
trine among them, for some time, in order to ripen them for ob- 
taining the gospel in a fixed way ; and further expressing their 
hopes, that such a mission would not only be attended with good 
effects as to themselves but happily it would thro' the divine 
blessing be a means of encouraging the whole province to follow 
their example in seeking after the gospel." {MS. Minutes, May 
15, 1765.) 

The Synod appointed Mr. Telfair to go, and author- 
ized him to unite with Mr. Clark and constitute a Pres- 
bytery. Mr. Telfair sailed in the spring of 1766, with 
Mr. Kinloch. These did not deem it wise to constitute 
a Burger Presbytery, but united with the Anti-Burger 
Associate Presbytery which had been already established 
in Pennsylvania.* 

This union in America was reported to the Anti-Bur- 
ger Synod in 1767, but they refused to sanction it. The 
Burger Synod, however, made no objection, but con- 
tinued to send missionaries. In 1768 they appointed 



* McKerrow, in /. c.^ pp. 539 seg. 



34:0 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANTSM. 

]\Iessrs. Edmund and Mitchell to go with Mr, David 
Telfair on his return to America, and under his direc- 
tion, and, if the Presbytery of Pennsylvania absolutely 
refused to admit them, the Synod empowered them to 
constitute a Pre5b}-tery by themselves. They were re- 
ceived by the Associate Presbyten,' in Pennsylvania, and 
in 1769 the Burger Synod instructed their missionaries in 
Xova Scotia to respect that agreement and not to en- 
croach upon the authority of the seceding Presbytery 
of Pennsylvania, ''unless they should be obliged thereto 
by that Presbyterie's refusal to maintain the above men- 
tioned articles of agreement, which they hope will not 
be the case." 

This was the situation when the desire for union was 
brought before the Synod of Xew York and Philadel- 
phia, in 1769. In 1770 the Anti-Burger Synod sent 
Messrs. Roger and Ramsey with the injunction to the 
Associate Presbyter}- of Pennsylvania to erase from their 
records evervthing' relating^ to their coalescence with the 
Burger brethren ; and if this injunction should not be 
complied with, they were empowered, with others who 
might join them, to constitute a new Presbytery. 

Thus two Presbyteries were constituted, the Presbytery 
of Xew York and the Pre5b\-ter}- of Pennsylvania, which 
contained 13 ministers at the outbreak of the war of the 
Revolution. Several years of conference between the Syn- 
od and the Associate Presbyter}' were fruitless. The union 
was doubtless prevented by the opposition of the mother 
Anti-Burger Synod in Scotland. In 1774 the Synod of 
Xew York and Philadelphia received a letter from Will- 
iam ^larshall, clerk of the Associate Presb}-ter}' in Penn- 
s}'lvania, "that for reasons which to them appear valid, 
they are not at present disposed to unite with this 
Svnod.""^ 



* Records, p. 460. 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 34I 

In 1774 a Reformed Presbytery was constituted by 
three ministers, Mr. Cuthbertson having been joined by 
Alexander Dobbin and Mr. Lind, from the Reformed 
Presbytery in Ireland. 

VII. — THE REUNION OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES. 

The question of education continued to divide the 
Dutch Reformed Church for many years. The Confer- 
entie organized itself as an Assembly June 20, 1764, and 
continued to co-operate with the Episcopalians in the 
support of Kings College, New York City ; but the Coe- 
tus earnestly sought to organize a college of its own, and 
obtained a charter for a Dutch academy, Nov. 10, 1766, 
from the government of New Jersey. The consistory of 
t e church of New York was neutral between the par- 
ties, notwithstanding the senior pastor, Ritzema, was 
the leader of the Assembly ; the majority really sympa- 
thized with the Coetus.* 

The reunion was accomplished through the wisdom 
and energy of John H. Livingston. f Livingston won 
the confidence of the Church of Holland, so that when 
he returned to become one of the pastors of the Dutch 
Reformed Church in New York City, he brought with 
him full powers from the mother church to heal the 
breaches. An effort had been made by Dr. Witherspoon 
to unite the Dutch Reformed Church with the Presby- 
terian in the support of the College of New Jersey. In 
1768 this plan was approved by the Synod of North 



* Corwin, in /. <:., p. 54. 

t Livingston was a descendant of the distinguished pastor of Ancrum (see p. 
49), and of Robert Livingston, who removed from Holland to New York soon 
after his fatlier's death in 1672. (Alex. Gunn, Memoirs of the Rev. yohn He?iry 
Livingston^ D.D. New edition, N. Y., 1856, p. 14.) His family is noted for its 
attachment to Presbyterianism and American Independence. (See p. 349.) He 
graduated from Yale College in 1762 and went to Holland to complete his edu- 
cation for the ministry in the Dutch Reformed Church. 



3^2 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

Holland; but the divisions in the Reformed Church 
were unfavorable to union with the Presbyterians in this 
particular. The Assembly still clung to Kings College, 
and would not listen to the scheme. The Coetus gave 
it careful consideration, but did not see their way to 
adopt it. Accordingly the Coetus obtained a charter for 
Queens College March 20, 1770, which was soon after 
established at New Brunswick, X. J. Livingston arrived 
in New York September 3, 1770, and brought with him a 
plan of union. A union convention was held October 15, 
1771 ; after some slight amendments the plan was adopt- 
ed ; it was subscribed by all the delegates at a second 
convention in 1772 ; and the Dutch Reformed Church 
was organized as a General Body with five particular 
bodies or classes, Albany, Hackensack, Kingston, New 
Brunswick, and New York, embracing in all about 100 
churches and 34 ministers. "^ 

The Dutch Reformed Church now rallied about 
Queens College. It was opened by a committee of trus- 
tees, amid the disorders of the American Revolution, 
and did not attain an ef^cient organization until the 
close of the war.f 

The German Reformed Church continued to increase 
through the immigration of ministers and people. The 
Coetus at the outbreak of the American Revolution 
numbered some 25 ministers. 

The strength of Presbyterianism in the American col- 
onies which entered into the revolutionary struggle with 
Great Britain, in 1775, may be estimated as follows: 

■r -.^ . . T -r, » . o J Pre=;by- Minis- 

I. British Presbyterians : Synods. ^^^-^^^^ ^^^ 

(i) Synod of New York and Philadelphia, i 11 132 

(2) Synod of New England, . . .1 3 ) 

The Presb}^er}' at the Eastward, . i V 32 

The Presbytery of Grafton, ... i ) 

* Convin, in /. r., pp. 56-66. t Corwin, in /. r., p. 83. 



Presby- 
teries. 


Minis- 
ters. 


I 


6 


2 


13 


I 


3 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. 343 

Synods. 

(3) Presbytery in South Carolina, . 

(4) The Associate Presbyteries, . 

(5) The Reformed Presbytery, 

Total British Presbyterians, . .2 20 1 86 

II. The Reformed Churches : 

(i) The Dutch Reformed Church, . . i 5 34 

(2) The German Reformed Church, . i 25 

(3) The French Reformed Church, . . 2 

Total Reformed, .... i 6 61 

Total strength of the Presbyterian and Reformed 
Churches was 3 general bodies, 26 presbyteries and classes, 
and about 247 ministers. The Presbyterians were vastly 
in the majority in the Middle colonies as were the Con- 
gregationalists in New England. The Presbyterians 
and Congregationalists combined had the ecclesiastical 
control of the American colonies. Upon their joint ac- 
tion the destinies of America depended. The Congre- 
gationalists were almost exclusively English, but the 
Presbyterians combined a number of nationalities, Eng- 
lish, Scotch, Irish, Welsh, Dutch, German, French, and 
Swiss, in the same Reformed system of doctrine and the 
same Presbyterian ecclesiastical polity. There were 
minor differences which prevented organic union, but 
there was essential union which displayed itself in the 
influence they were to exert upon the organization of 
an American republic. The Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia was considerably stronger than all the other 
Presbyterian bodies combined. It was a generous, toler- 
ant, broad, and progressive Presbyterian Church, which, 
more than any other Church on the continent, was ani- 
mated with the true American spirit, illustrating in its 
own unity amidst diversity the character of the Ameri- 
can Republic which was about to be born. 



CHAPTER IX. 

PRESBYTERIANISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

The American Revolution was not only a political 
revolution for the sake of deliverance from the tyranny 
and oppression of the mother countr>% which had treated 
her children so cruelly and unnaturally that they could 
no longer endure her domination ; but it was also a 
religious revolution. The English Government had per- 
mitted its governors to invade the religious rights and 
liberties of the people. The American people had 
sought refuge in the wilds of America in order to exer- 
cise their rights of conscience and worship God accord- 
ing to their convictions. The Puritans, the Covenanters, 
the Huguenots, the Scotch-Irish, and the German refu- 
gees from the Palatinate, and their children, had suffered 
so much from persecution for their religious principles, 
that they were naturally suspicious of the encroach- 
ments of the Church of England and the Tory gov- 
ernors upon their religious rights in the new world. 

The Church of England, to the masses of the American 
people, was the Church of the oppressors of their fathers, 
and they had learned from childhood to fear its aggres- 
sions. The Episcopal Church in America was not 
strong in numbers, wealth, or influence, except in Vir- 
ginia, where the old Puritan spirit was dominant in the 
people and clergy of the Episcopal Church itself. But 
the people of America knew that a vast power was 
behind this handful of ministers and people which might 
(344) 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 345 

be used in America, as it had been used in England, 
Ireland, and Scotland, to constrain the consciences of 
the people to religious conformity. The Presbyterians 
and Congregationalists were in constant fear lest an 
American bishop should be appointed ; and the Pres- 
byterians and Congregationalists united throughout the 
colonies in a combined and persistent effort to prevent 
what seemed to them a grave peril. It was not that 
they would deprive the American Episcopalians of the 
religious advantages of a bishopric, but that they knew 
that the introduction of prelacy into America would 
throw a vast political power into the scale against them, 
and that an effort would be made to establish the 
Church of England in all the colonies and treat all 
other Churches as dissenting. 

" The non-episcopal denominations, therefore, in this country, 
had abundant cause for alarm. From South Carolina to New 
Hampshire, they saw the power and influence of the government 
exerted to give ascendency to the Episcopal Church. This object 
was constantly thought cautiously pursued. It was natural it 
should be so. The arguments which were adduced to prove 
that the Church of England was entitled to this ascendency, 
were sufficiently plausible to command the assent of those who 
were anxious to be convinced. And the motives of policy in 
behalf of the measure, were sufficiently obvious to make all see 
that the English government would pursue it as far as it could 
be done with safety. Here as in the contest about taxation, it 
was not the pressure of the particular acts of injury or indignity 
that produced the dissatisfaction, but the power that was 
claimed. The assumption was the same in both cases, viz. : that 
America was part of the nation of England, that the power of the 
king and parliament was here what it was there. Hence on the 
one hand, the inference that the British parliament could here 
levy what taxes they pleased ; and on the other, that the king's 
supremacy in ecclesiastical matters extended to the colonies. . . . . 
Before the Revolution the Episcopal Church, from its connection 
with the English government, and from its claim to be regarded 
as a branch of a great national establishment, was justly an 



340 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

object of apprehension. And this apprehension was confirmed 
and deepened by a long series of encroachments on the rights of 
other denominations. After the Revolution, that church ceased 
to be the Church of England, and became the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church in the United States. Since she has taken her 
stand on equal terms with sister churches, she is the object of no 
other feelings than respect and love, wherever she consents to 
acknowledge that equality." (Hodge, in l.c, pp. 388 seq^ 

The Presbyterians and the Congregationalists of 
America no longer sought the civil establishment of 
their systems of church government. They had ad- 
vanced to a higher conception of the principles of 
religious toleration. The Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia embraced Presbyterian churches in New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
and the Carolinas. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land, and North Carolina there were no hindrances to 
the progress of Presbyterianism ; but in New York, Vir- 
ginia, and South Carolina there had been an intense 
struggle with Episcopacy and the Tory governors.^ 

New York was the chief battle-ground ; for there 
Presbyterianism was so strong and so ancient that its 
rights were clear, and these were maintained with in- 
vincible arguments against a bold and unscrupulous 
opposition. This battle enlisted the sympathies of the 
entire body of Presbyterians in America. 

" During the quarter of a century immediately preceding the 
Revolution, a discussion of the whole subject of religious rights, 
important for its effect upon the popular mind, as well as for the 
ability displayed in its prosecution, was conducted through the 
public press by the leading men of the Presbyterian Church in 
New York. Three of these were eminent lawyers. A fourth 
was the young pastor of the Wall Street Church, Alexander 
Cumming, whose spirited appeals and cogent arguments con- 
tributed not a little to the force and weight of the pamphlet and 



* See pp. 143 seq. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 347 

newspaper publications of the day. But the names of his 
parishioners, William Smith, William Livingston, John Morin 
Scott, are better known in connection with this debate. The 
battle for religious liberty was well fought, at a time when the 
great struggle for civil freedom was beginning, by ' the Presby- 
terian lawyers ' of New York ; and not only for their own religious 
communion, but equally for other Christian bodies. It is cer- 
tainly to the credit of these advocates of the rights of conscience, 
that representing a Church which in Great Britain was a Church 
by law established — one of * the two Communions ' in alliance 
with the State, the National Church of Scotland — they pleaded 
the common cause of the Protestant denominations not con- 
forming to the Church of England. By the prominent part they 
took in this controversy, as well as by their activity in the 
political discussions of the day, Livingston and his associates 
incurred suspicion and odium as dangerous men. But their 
arguments and appeals carried the judgment and the sympathies 
of the people. The partisans of a Church Establishment were 
no match for the men who stood forth in defence of the rights 
of conscience and the freedom of the land from an oppressive 
ecclesiastical rule." (C. W. Baird, Civil Status of the Presby- 
terians in the Province of New York in Mag. Amer. Hist,, 1879, 
pp. 620-621.) 

I. — THE PRESBYTERIANS ENGAGE IN THE STRUGGLE 
FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 

The Presbyterians of America were the earliest and the 
staunchest friends of the Independence of the American 
colonies. The Scotch-Irish on the frontiers of Virginia 
and North Carolinia, in the Presbyteries of Hanover and 
Orange, were the first to advance to a declaration of in- 
dependence of the mother country. The struggles 
against the government of Virginia for their religious 
rights had prepared them for this issue.* 

The Scotch-Irish met in coun-cil at Abingdon, Jan. 20, 
1775, and prepared an address to the Delegates of Vir- 
ginia, in which they said : 



* See pp. 296 seq. 



348 AMEEICAN PRESBTTEPJANISM. 

" We explored our uncultivated wilderness, bordering on many 
nations of savages, and surrounded by mountains almost inacces- 
sible to any but these savages ; but even to these remote regions 
the hand of power hath pursued us, to strip us of that liberty and 
property, with which God, nature, and the rights of humanity 
have vested us. We are willing to contribute all in our power, 
if applied to constitutionally, but cannot think of submitting our 
liberty or property to a venal British parliament or a corrupt 
ministry. We are deliberately and resolutely determined never 
to surrender any of our inestimable privileges to any power upon 
earth but at the expense of our li\'-es. These are our real 
though unpolished sentiments of liberty and loyalty, and in them 
we are resolved to live and die." (Bancroft, in /. c, IV., p. loo.) 

The Scotch-Irish of Mecklenburg county, in Western 
North Carolina, took a still bolder position. May 20, 
1775, they assembled in convention and unanimously 
resolved : 

"I. Resolved, That whosoever, directly or indirectly, abetted, 
or in any way, form or manner countenanced, the unchartered 
and dangerous invasion of our rights, as claimed by Great 
Britain, is an enemy to this country, to America, and to the in- 
herent and inalienable rights of man. 

" 2. Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do 
hereby dissolve the political bonds which have connected us to 
the mother country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all alle- 
giance to the British Crown, and abjure all political connection, 
contract or association with that nation, who have wantonly 
trampled on our rights and liberties and inhumanly shed the 
blood of American patriots at Lexington. 

" 3. Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and 
independent people ; are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign 
and self-governing association, under the control of no pov/er 
other than that of our God and the general government of the 
Congress ; to the maintenance of which we solemnly pledge to 
each other our mutual co-operation and our lives, our fortunes 
and our most sacred honor." (W. P. Breed, Presbyteria7is ana 
the Revolution, Philadelphia, 1876, pp. 72 seq.; Bancroft, in /. c, 
IV., pp. 196 seq.; Foote, Sketches of North Carolina, pp. 33 seq^ 

The Presbyterians of New York, New Jersey, and 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 349 

Pennsylvania were not so swift in action, but by delib- 
eration reached the same goal : 

" The settlers in New York from New England, and the me- 
chanics of the city were almost to a man enthusiasts for resist- 
ance. The landed aristocracy was divided ; but the Dutch and 
the Scotch Presbyterians, especially Schuyler of Albany and the 
aged Livingston of Rhinebeck, never hesitated to risk their estates 
in the cause of inherited freedom." (Bancroft, in /. r., IV., p. 130.) 

In New Jersey, William Livingston, the distinguished 
lawyer; John Witherspoon, the President of the College 
of New Jersey; Jacob Green, James Caldwell, and the 
Presbyterians and Reformed in a body, decided upon the 
struggle for liberty. The Presbyterians of Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, and throughout the colonies arose as one man 
for the rights and liberties of America. The Highland- 
ers of the Valley of the Mohawk in the colony of New 
York, and on the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, 
seem to have been the only sections of the Presbyterian 
population which took a stand against the rights of the 
colonies.'^ 

However, there were two Presbyterian ministers in 
New England who went over to the British lines ; but 
one of these was deposed from the ministry and the 
other was suspended. f 

The great body of American Presbyterians hesitated 
about breaking altogether with the mother country ; 
they made the distinction between the ministry and the 
crown, and strove to maintain their allegiance to the 
monarch while throwing off the yoke of his ministers. 
This is manifest in the Pastoral Letter of the Synod of 
New York and Philadelphia, May 20, 1775 : 

" First. In carrying on this important struggle, let every op- 
portunity be taken to express your attachment and respect to 

* Bancroft, in /, c, pp. 311, 390 seq. t Blaikie, in /. r,, pp. 171 seq. 



350 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

our Sovereign King George, and to the revolution principles by 
which his august family was seated on the British throne. We 
recommend, indeed, not only allegiance to him from duty and 
principle, as the first magistrate of the empire, but esteem and 
reverence for the person of the prince, who has merited well of 
his subjects on many accounts, and who has probably been mis- 
led into the late and present measures by those about him ; 
neither have we any doubt that they themselves have been in a 
great degree deceived by false information from interested per- 
sons residing in America. It gives us the greatest pleasure to 
say, from our own certain knowledge of all belonging to our 
communion, and from the best means of information, of the far 
greatest part of all denominations in this country, that the pres- 
ent opposition to the measures of administration does not in the 
least arise from disaffection to the king, or a desire of separation 
from the parent state. We are happy in being able with truth 
to affirm, that no part of America would either have approved 
or permitted such insults as have been offered to the sovereign 
in Great Britain. We exhort you, therefore, to continue in the 
same disposition, and not to suffer oppression, or injur)?- itself, 
easily to provoke you to any thing which may seem to betray 
contrary sentiments : let it ever appear, that you only desire the 
preservation and security of those rights which belong to you as 
freemen and Britons, and that reconciliation upon these terms 
is your most ardent desire. 

" Secondly. Be careful to maintain the union which at present 
subsists through all the colonies ; nothing can be more manifest 
than that the success of every measure depends on its being 
inviolably preserved, and therefore, we hope that you will leave 
nothing undone which can promote that end. In particular, as 
the Continental Congress now sitting at Philadelphia, consists 
of delegates chosen in the most free and unbiassed manner, by 
the body of the people, let them not only be treated with respect, 
and encouraged in their difficult service — not only let your 
prayers be offered up to God for his direction in their proceed- 
ings — but adhere firmly to their resolutions ; and let it be seen 
that they are able to bring out the whole strength of this vast 
country to carry them into execution. We would also advise 
for the same purpose, that a spirit of candour, charity, and m.u- 
tual esteem, be preserved and promoted towards those of different 
religious denominations. Persons of probity and principle of 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 35X 

every profession, should be united together as servants of the 
same master, and the experience of our happy concord hitherto 
in a state of liberty should engage all to unite in support of the 
common interest ; for there is no example in history in which 
civil liberty was destroyed, and the rights of conscience pre- 
served entire." {Records, pp. 467-468.) 

But in a few months it became clear that there must 
be a final separation from the mother country, and the 
venerable John Witherspoon, the only clergyman in the 
Continental Congress in 1776, gave the Presbyterian 
voice for the Declaration of Independence : 

" There is a tide m the affairs of men, a nick of time. We per- 
ceive it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own 
slavery. That noble instrument upon your table, which ensures 
immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morn- 
ing by every pen in this house. He that w ill not respond to its 
accents and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions 

is unworthy the name of freeman For my own part, of 

property I have some, of reputation more. That reputation is 
staked, that property is pledged, on the issue of this contest ; 
and although these gray hairs must soon descend into the sep- 
ulchre, I would infinitely rather that they descend thither by the 
hand of the executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred 
cause of my country." (Breed, in /. c, p. 166; Thomas Smythe, 
Presbyterians in the Revolution, etc., p. 31.) 

The unanimity of Presbyterians in the struggle for 
independence was recognized by their foes. 

The Rev. Mr. Inglis, Rector of Trinity Church, N. Y., 
writes October 31, 1776: 

"Although civil liberty was the ostensible object, the bait that 
was flung out to catch the populace at large and engage them in 
the rebellion, yet it is now past all doubt that an abolition of the 
Church of England was one of the principal springs of the dis- 
senting leaders' conduct ; and hence the unanimity of the dis- 
senters in this business I have it from good authority 

that the Presbyterian ministers, at a Synod where most of them 
in the middle colonies were collected, passed a resolve to support 



352 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

the Continental Congress in all their measures. This, and this 
only, can account for the uniformity of their conduct ; for I do 
not know one of them, nor have I been able, after strict inquiry, 
to hear of any, who did not, by preaching and every effort in 
their power, promote all the measures of the Congress, however 
extravagant." {Documentary History of New York, III., pp. 
1050-51 ; Hawkins, Historical Notices, pp. 328-329.) 

II. — THE PRESBYTERIAN GAIN AND LOSS BY THE REV- 
OLUTION. 

The Presbyterian Church suffered severely by the war 
of Independence ; its ministers and elders went into the 
struggle for constitutional liberty with all their strength ; 
churches were destroyed, ministers and elders were slain, 
congregations were scattered, vital religion was neglected, 
and morality was weakened. The leading ministers took 
an active part in the struggle. Dr. Witherspoon was an 
influential member of the Continental Congress, and Dr. 
George Duffield was one of the two chaplains. Dr. John 
Rodgers, of New York, was chaplain of Heath's brigade ; 
James Caldwell, of Elizabethtown, of the New Jersey 
brigade ; Alexander McWhorter, of Knox's brigade ; 
James F. Armstrong, of the Second Maryland brigade ; 
Adam Boyd, of the North Carolina brigade ; Daniel 
McCall, of the expedition to Canada. Jacob Green was 
a member of the congress of New Jersey ; Henry Pa- 
tillo, of North Carolina ; William Tennent, of South 
Carolina ; John Murray, of Massachusetts ; * David 
Caldwell was a member of the convention of North 
Carolina of 1776, which drew up its constitution ; Abra- 
ham Kettletas, of the convention of New York. James 
Hall, of Iredell, North Carolina, was captain of a cavalry 
company, as well as chaplain of a regiment.f 



* Gillett, in /. f,, I., pp. 186 seq. ; Breed, in /. r., pp. 91 seq. ; Blaikie, in /. tr., 
pp. 175 seq. ; Foote, Sketches North Carolina, p. 217. 

t Foote, in /. c, pp. 315 seq. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 353 

Dr. Thomas Smythe gives us a careful statement of 
the activity of Presbyterian elders in the war of Inde- 
pendence, in the province of South Carolina : 

" The battles of the ' Cowpens,' of ' King's Mountain,' — and 
also the severe skirmish known as ' Hack's Defeat,' are among 
the most celebrated in this State as giving a turning-point to the 
contests of the Revolution. General Morgan, who commanded 
at the Cowpens, was a Presbyterian elder, and lived and died in 
the communion of the church. General Pickens, who made all 
the arrangements for the battle, was also a Presbyterian elder, 
and nearly all under their command were Presbyterians. In the 
battle of King's Mountain Colonel Campbell, Colonel James 
Williams (who fell in action), Colonel Cleaveland, Colonel 
Shelby and Colonel Sevier, were all Presbyterian elders ; and the 
body of their troops were collected from Presbyterian settle- 
ments. At Huck's Defeat, in York, Colonel Bratton and Major 
Dickson were both elders in the Presbyterian Church. Major 
Samuel Morrow, who was with Colonel Sumpter in four engage- 
ments, and at King's Mountain, Blackstock, and other battles, 
and whose home was in the army till the termination of hostili- 
ties, was for about fifty years a ruling elder in the Presbyterian 

Church It may also be mentioned in this connection that 

Marion, Huger and other distinguished men of Revolutionary 
memory, were of Huguenot — that is, of full-blooded Presbyterian 
descent." (Thomas Smythe, Presbyterianism, the Revolution, the 
Declaration and the Constitution, pp. 32 seq^ 

South Carolina was in this respect but a sample of all 
the colonies. The Dutch Reformed Church was equally 
patriotic. 

" During the mighty struggle the Reformed Dutch Church 
was in hearty sympathy with the cause of freedom. Her pulpits 
* rang with stirring appeals, which roused the patriotic ardor and 
inspired the martial courage of the people.' The scene of the 
war was chiefly on the territory of the Dutch Church, and not a 
few of her church buildings were destroyed, and her ministers 
were often driven from their homes. The Church memorialized 
the Legislature of New York in 1780, speaking of the present 
Just and Necessary War. At its close, Dominie Rubel was 
23 



354 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

deposed for certain immoralities and for his Toryism. The mere 
mention of the names of Schuneman, Hardenbergh, Foering, 
Romeyn, Livingston, Westerlo, Du Bois, Leydt, and many others 
in the ministry, at once suggests the stories of their patriotism." 
(Corwin, in /. c, p. 66.) 

The struggle for Independence involved a religious 
struggle to v^hich Presbyterianism was committed from 
the start, and for which it was resolved to make every 
sacrifice. The sacrifices were great, but the reward was 
vastly greater, for the spirit of the conflict animated 
American Presbyterianism with new vigor, so that it be- 
came pre-eminently the Church of Constitutional govern- 
ment and orderly liberty. The ecclesiastical polity of 
the Presbyterian Churches influenced the government of 
the State, and the government of the American Presby- 
terian Churches was in no slight degree assimilated to the 
civil government of the country. 

The independence of the colonies carried with it the 
separation of the Church from the State. The Presby- 
terians of America had risen to this height. There were 
fears and anxieties on the part of the weaker sects at the 
close of the struggle for Independence, lest the Presby- 
terians should take advantage of their pre-eminence, and 
make the Presbyterian Church the established c?iurch of 
the Middle colonies. But this suspicion was removed 
by the action of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia 
in 1783. 

" It having been represented to Synod, that the Presbyterian 
Church suffers greatly in the opinion of other denominations, 
from an apprehension that they hold intolerant principles, the 
Synod do solemnly and publickly declare, that they ever have, 
and still do renounce and abhor the principles of intolerance ; 
and we do believe that every member of civil society ought to be 
protected in the full and free exercise of their religion." {Records, 
p. 499.) 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 355 

The Reformed Churches were in entire sympathy with 
this position. The American Presbyterians had ad- 
vanced to a doctrine of toleration beyond anything 
recognized elsewhere in the world ; to the mutual recog- 
nition of the rights of all men to the full and free exer- 
cise of their religion under the protection, but not under 
the control or direction of the civil government. The 
doctrine of the separation of Church and State was in- 
scribed upon the banners of American Presbyterianism. 

" For more than two centuries the humbler Protestant sects 
had sent up the cry to heaven for freedom to worship God. To 
the panting for this freedom half the American States owed their 
existence, and all but one or two their increase in free population. 
The immense majority of the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies, 
were Protestant dissenters ; and, from end to end of their conti- 
nent, from the rivers of Maine and the hills of New Hampshire 
to the mountain valleys of Tennessee and the borders of Georgia, 
one voice called to the other, that there should be no connection 
of the church with the state, no establishment of any one form 
of religion by the civil power ; that * all men have a natural and 
inalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of 
their own consciences and understandings.' With this great idea 
the colonies had travailed for a century and a half ; and now, not 
as revolutionary, not as destructive, but simply as giving utterance 
to the thought of the nation, the States stood up in succession, in 
the presence of one another and before God and the world, to 
bear their witness in favor of restoring independence to con- 
science and the mind." (Bancroft, in /. c, V., p. 120.) 

The recognition of the independence of the American 
colonies, which was achieved after a long, bloody, and 
exhausting war, was followed by an internal political 
contest as to the form of government which the colonies 
should assume. The American colonies had been inde- 
pendent of one another, with their only unity in their com- 
mon attachment to the mother country. They had been 
compacted together by the sufferings and the triumphs of 
the war of independence ; they were obliged to search 



356 AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 

their way to a plan of government which would give 
them sufficient unity without infringing upon the liber- 
ties of the individual colonies. The choice was to be 
made between a confederation of independent States, and 
a constitutional republic. The American colonies ad- 
vanced in a few years through the confederation to the 
republic. These discussions as to the civil government 
of the American colonies were influenced in no small 
measure by the ecclesiastical governments with which its 
citizens were most familiar. 

The choice between a confederacy and a republic was 
very much the same as a choice between Congregation- 
alism and Presbyterianism ; for Congregationalism is a 
confederacy of independent churches, but Presbyterian- 
ism is an organized representative and constitutional 
government. The Presbyterian form of government 
was familiar to the great mass of the inhabitants of the 
Middle and Southern colonies ; it was the form of govern- 
ment which Puritan Episcopacy has ever preferred. The 
Congregationalism of Connecticut and of other parts of 
New England tended in the same direction. There is 
no reason to doubt that Presbyterianism influenced the 
framers of the Constitution in their efforts to erect a 
national organism, — a constitutional republic. But 
Congregationalism also had its influence in defining the 
limitations of the supremacy of the general government 
and in the reservation of the sovereignty ot the States 
in all those affairs which were not assigned to the gen- 
eral government. It is true, Presbyterianism was prepared 
for such limitations by the Scotch Barrier Act of 1697, 
which prevented hasty legislation by an appeal to all 
the Presbyteries of the Church ; and still more by the 
persistent resistance of American Presbyterianism to 
any legislative power in the Synod, without the con- 
sent of the Presbyteries."^ But the limitations of 

* See pp. 2C9, 245. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 357 

th^ general government in the American Constitution 
were beyond anything known to Presbyterianism before, 
and the reserved rights of the States were vastly in ex- 
cess of any rights ever claimed or exercised by Presby- 
teries. The American form of civil government was a 
happy combination of some of the best features pre- 
sented in Presbyterianism and in Congregationalism. 

The Synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1783 
issued their pastoral letter, in which they say : 

" We cannot help congratulating you on the general and 
almost universal attachment of the Presbyterian body to the 
cause of liberty and the rights of mankind. This has been 
visible in their conduct, and has been confessed by the com- 
plaints and resentment of the common enemy. Such a circum- 
stance ought not only to afford us satisfaction on the review, as 
bringing credit to the body in general, but to increase our grati- 
tude to God, for the happy issue of the war. Had it been un- 
successful, we must have drunk deeply of the cup of suffering. 
Our burnt and wasted churches, and our plundered dwellings, in 
such places as fell under the power of our adversaries, are but an 
earnest of what we must have suffered, had they finally prevailed. 
The Synod, therefore, request you to render thanks to Almighty 
God, for all his mercies, spiritual and temporal, and in a particular 
manner for establishing the Independence of the United States 
of America.'' 

III. — EFFORTS TO UNITE THE PRESBYTERIAN AND RE- 
FORMED CHURCHES. 

The war of Independence having been brought to a 
successful conclusion, the minds of men were directed to 
reconstruction and reunion in Church as well as in State. 
John Mason, of the Scotch Church of New York City, 
was the leader in this movement. He wrote to a friend 
in Scotland in 1775 with reference to the controversy 
between the Burgers and Anti-Burgers, and called it 
"the dry, the fruitless, the disgracing, the pernicious 
controversy about the burgess oath," and said : 



358 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

" This controversy has done infinite injury to the cause of God 
in Scotland, and wherever it has shed its malignant influences. 
For my own part, I cannot reflect upon it without shame and 
perplexity. Though we differ only about the meaning of some 
burgess-oaths and some acts of parliament, our mutual opposi- 
tion has been as fierce as probably it would have been had we 
differed about the most important points of Christianity. The 
infatuation we have fallen into will amaze posterity." (McKer- 
row, in /. c, p. 314.) 

Through his influence the two Associate Presbyteries 
united with the Reformed Presbytery in constituting the 
Associate Reformed Synod, November i, 1782, com- 
posed of three Presbyteries, Pennsylvania, New York, 
and Londonderry. There were several dissenting min- 
isters who by the aid of fresh supplies of ministers from 
Scotland were enabled to perpetuate the Anti- Burger and 
the Reformed Presbyterian bodies. In 1798 the Re- 
formed Presbytery of North America was constituted. 
Messrs. Marshall and Clarkson, of the Associate Presby- 
tery of Pennsylvania, refused to unite with the Synod, 
and claimed, with three elders who adhered to them, to 
be the Presbytery. They were strengthened by Mr. 
Thomas Beveridge in 1783.'^ 

The Associate Reformed Synod at once absorbed all 
that was left of the Presbyterianism of New England. 
The Synod of New England was weakened by the death 
of several of its most eminent ministers, and by the 
withdrawal of a number of ministers and churches which 
were dissatisfied with its discipline, so that September 
12, 1782, the Synod was dissolved, and its members 
constituted themselves the Presbytery of Salem. They 
endeavored to form a union with the Presbytery of 
Grafton, but failed ; and they declined to unite with the 
Presbytery at the Eastward. f The Presbytery of Salem 



•^ McKerrow, in /. c,, p. 334. t Blaikie, in /. r., p. 204. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 359 

continued to dwindle until September 14, 1791, when it 
adjourned sine die.^ 

The Presbytery at the Eastward continued in corre- 
spondence with the Presbytery of Grafton. A Synodical 
Convention was held at Dartmouth College, August 23, 
1792, to effect a union of these two Presbyteries with 
the Associate Reformed Presbytery, but without result. 
March 13, 1793, John Murray, who was the master spirit 
of the Presbytery at the Eastward, died, and October 
25, 1793, it agreed to a union with the Associate Re- 
formed Presbytery of Londonderry, and became merged 
in it.f The Presbytery of Grafton soon afterwards 
passed out of existence. 

In 1785 the Synod of New York and Philadelphia 
were informed 

" that some of the brethren of the Dutch Synod, and one of the 
members of the Associate Reformed Synod had expressed a 
desire of some measures being taken for promoting a friendly 
intercourse between the three Synods or laying a plan for some 
kind of union among them, whereby they might be enabled to 
unite their interests, and combine their efforts, for promoting 
the great cause of truth and vital religion ; and at the same time 
giving it as their judgment, that such plan was practicable : the 
Synod were happy in finding such a disposition in the brethren 
of the above Synods, and cheerfully concur with them in think- 
ing that such a measure is both desirable and practicable, and 
therefore appoint Drs. Witherspoon, Jones, Rodgers, McWhorter, 
Smith, Messrs. Martin, Duffield, Alexander Miller, Israel Read, 
John Woodhull, and Nathan Kerr, a committee to meet with 
such committees as may be appointed by the Low Dutcli Synod 
now sitting in New York, and by the Associate Synod to meet in 
that city next week, at such time and place as may be agreed 
upon, to confer with the brethren of said Synods on this import- 
ant subject, and to concert such measures with them for the 
accomplishment of these great ends as they shall judge expedient, 
and report the same to the next meeting of this Synod." 



* Blaikie, in /. c, pp. 216 seq. 

t Blaikie, in /. c, pp. 247, 255, 273, 293 seg. 



360 AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

There were several favorable circumstances which ren- 
dered a union of some sort practicable. Three distin- 
guished divines — John Mason, J. H. Livingston, and 
John Rodgers — represented the three denominations in 
the churches of New York City, and were in entire ac- 
cord with one another. John Mason had already ac- 
complished a great task in combining the Reformed, the 
Anti-Burgers, and the Burgers into one Synod. He had 
a taste of reunion, and he was desirous of more of it. 
Dr. Livingston was more cautious. In a letter to Dr. 
Westerlo, December 22, 1783, he had said: 

" Our correspondence with our mother churches in Holland, 
and the possibility of being increased by emigrations from thence, 
should at least incline us to remain as pure and unsuspected of 
any mixture as possible — unless some generous and proper plan, 
formed by a genius equal to the task, should be drawn for unit- 
ing all the Reformed Churches in America into one national 
church — which notwithstanding the seeming difficulties in the 
way, I humbly apprehend will be practicable and, consistent with 
the outlines drawn by Professor Witsius for King William the 
Third, I yet hope to see accomplished." (Alexander Gunn, 
Memoirs of J. H. Livingston, p. 159.) 

In October, 1784, Dr. Livingston was chosen Professor 
of Theology of the Dutch Reformed Church, and he 
delivered his inaugural May 19, 1785, in the old Dutch 
Church in New York City. He continued to be pro- 
fessor and pastor in New York until 18 10, when he re- 
moved to New Brunswick, N. J. 

Efforts had been made to secure the abandonment of 
the college at New Brunswick and a union with Prince- 
ton. Dr. Livingston's plan, in 1683,+ was that a Divinity 
Hall should be erected at New Brunswick, and that the 
Presbyterians and the Reformed should unite in the sup- 
port of the college at Princeton and the Divinity School 



* Corwin. in /. c, p. io6. + Gunn, in /. <:., pp. 156 seq. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 3^1 

at New Brunswick. This was an excellent scheme, and, 
if it had been carried out, the two denominations would 
have attained organic union in a few years, but local 
and denominational prejudices prevented its accomplish- 
ment. The union conference was held in New York in 
October, 1785, and it was finally agreed to unite in a 
biennial convention whose 

" powers shall be merely of counsel and advice, and that it shall 
on no account possess judiciary or executive authority, and every 
subject that shall come regularly before the convention, shall 
after being properly digested, be referred to the respective Syn- 
ods, together with the opinion of the convention, and the rea- 
sons on which it is founded, for their judiciary and ultimate de- 
cision." {Records, p. 521.) 

The first convention was held in New York in the au- 
tumn of 1786. 

In 1788 the Dutch Reformed Church appointed a 
Committee to translate and publish the symbols of the 
Church. After careful revision these were adopted as 
the Constitution of the Church in 1792, and in 1794 the 
General Synod was organized with five classes. 

In this same year they resolved : 

" As a friendly correspondence with sister churches will doubt- 
less conduce to strengthen and establish the cause of religion, 
the General Synod sincerely wish to open such a correspondence 
and prosecute it to a union with the Reformed German Churches 
of Pennsylvania; for which purpose the Synod have thought 
proper to appoint a committee, whose business it shall be to take 
the earliest, and, if possible, the most effectual measures to bring 
so desirable a thing into effect ; that this committee be the Rev. 
Dr. Livingston and the Rev. Messrs. Solomon Froligh, Peter 
Stryker, and C. A. Peik, who will gladly embrace the opportu- 
nities which may offer in providence for pursuing the same ; and 
that any three of them be a quorum to transact this business. 
The Synod further declare their earnest desire that the earliest 
opportunity be taken to revive the friendly correspondence 
entered into with the Presbyterian and Associate Reformed 
Churches in America." {^Minutes of General Synod, L, p. 258.) 



362 AMERICAN PEESBTTERIAXISAI. 

At the close of the century the Synod report 139 con- 
gregations, 59 ministers, and 5 candidates. 

The German Reformed Church adopted a Constitution 
in 1793, having some 150 churches, but only 22 ordained 
ministers. 

IV.— THE ORGAXIZATIOX OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 

The American Presbyterian Church continued to grow 
with great rapidity after the Revolution. It was spread 
over a larc^e territor\' from New York to Georgria ; and 
it was simply impossible for all the ministers, or even a 
majority of them, to meet together in the annual Synod. 
A s}'stem of representation was rendered necessary. This 
might have been accomplished by changing the Synod 
into a representative body ; but it was preferred to use 
the Synod as a larger Presb}-tery in which all the minis- 
ters residing in a section of the countr}' might assemble, 
and to organize a representative General Assembly. The 
American Presbyterian Church, under the influence of 
Dr. AVitherspoon, was tending strongly toAvards the meth- 
ods of government and discipline of the Presbyterian 
Church of Scotland. 

This tendency was offensive to quite a number of the 
American ministers, who were jealous of ecclesiastical 
domination. Several of these claimed the privileges of 
the Plan of Uniou,"^ and peaceably withdrew from the 
Synod. The leader in this movement was Jacob Green, 
of Hanover, Ncav Jersey. 

" His exceptions were directed against the exercise of power 
by the Synod, according to ' the Director}- of Church Govern- 
ment authorized by the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- 
land.' 'They assumed,' he said, 'the authoritative enacting 
style in their minutes, appointing and requiring, instead of rec- 
ommending and desiring.' They moreover assumed a 'legislative 



* See p. 318. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 3^3 

power,' 'appointed ministers and candidates to travel to distant 
parts, supply vacancies, &c,' — had 'ordered — not desired — contri- 
butions,' — had claimed a power to liberate ministers from their 
people, against the will of the latter, — as, for instance, ' several 
presidents for the college.' They had required candidates to 
study a year after taking their degree, — had ordered licentiates 
to write their notes at large and show them to some minister, — 
had enjoined the keeping of registers of births, baptisms, mar- 
riages, and burials, — had also enjoined ministers not to use notes 
in preaching; and, in the union of the two Synods, the West- 
minster Confession ' without any liberty for explanation in any 
article, was enjoined upon all their ministers, who were to teach 
and preach accordingly.' " (E. H. Gillett, in /. c, p. 209.) 

These representations are certainly overdrawn ; they 
show the straining of a dissatisfied man to make up a 
case by heaping up a mass of miscellaneous complaints. 
Yet there was an underlying grievance in the tendency 
to greater strictness and imperiousness in the exercise of 
government and discipline on the part of the Synod ; 
and especially in the rules for candidates, which, in 
the judgment of Jacob Green, and his associates, 
hindered the training of a godly ministry and pre- 
vented the more* rapid increase of the church. Ac- 
cordingly, Jacob Green withdrew from the Synod 
in October, 1779, ^.nd was followed by Joseph Grover, 
Amzi Lewis, and Ebenezer Bradford. These four 
organized the Associated Presbytery of Morris County 
May 3, 1780. It increased rapidly in numbers, and 
October, 1791, the Associated Presbytery of West- 
chester was organized, and Nov. 12, 1793, the Northern 
Associated Presbytery in the State of New York. In 
1795 these three Associated Presbyteries combined in an 
annual convention. For some years they barred the 
way of the progress of the American Presbyterian Church 
in New York State, but they were all dissolved early in 
the nineteenth century, and absorbed either by the Gen- 
eral Assembly or Congregational Associations."^ 

* Gillett, in /. r., pp. 213-218. 



364 AMERICAN PRESBYTERlANISM. 

The dissatisfaction of these ministers who withdrew 
was shared by no inconsiderable number who preferred 
to remain in the Synod and were unwilling to separate 
without imperative reasons. 

In order to remove the increasing dissatisfaction in the 
Synod and to appease the jealousies of foreign influence in 
the government of the Church, it became indispensable 
that the Synod should organize a representative General 
Assembly, revise the Westminster symbols, and adopt a 
Constitution. The spirit of American Independence, 
which was active in the Church as well as in the State, 
imperatively demanded such action. 

Accordingly, in 1788, the Synod resolved to organ- 
ize a General Assembly composed of four Synods : 
New York and Nezv Jersey^ with four Presbyteries, Suf- 
folk, Dutchess county, New York, and New Brunswick; 
Philadelphia, with five Presbyteries, Philadelphia, Lewes, 
New Castle, Baltimore, and Carlisle ; Virginia, with four 
Presbyteries, Redstone, Hanover, Lexington, and Tran- 
sylvania ; the Carolinas, with three Presbyteries, Abing- 
don, Orange, and South Carolina. These sixteen Pres- 
byteries contained 177 ministers, in probationers, and 
419 churches. 

The Synod revised the Westminster Confession and 
Catechisms, striking out or amending objectionable 
clauses or sections in the statements respecting the rela- 
tion of Church and State. The following changes were 
made by omissions. 

The Westmirister Confessio7i, xx. 4, reads : 

" And because the power which God hath ordained, and the 
Liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God, 
to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another ; 
They who upon pretence of Christian liberty, shall oppose any 
lawful Power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be Civil or 
Ecclesiastical, resist the Ordinance of God. And, for their pub- 
lishing of such Opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



365 



contrary to the light of Nature, or to the known Principles of 
Christianity ; whether concerning Faith, Worship, or Conversa- 
tion, or to the Power of Godliness ; or, such eronious Opinions 
or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of 
publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external 
Peace and Order which Christ hath established in the Church, 
they may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against by 
the Censures of the Church, a7id by the power of the Civil Magis- 
trate." (We cite from the London edition of 1658.) 

This was amended by striking out the last clause, 
which we have given in italics. 

The Larger Catechism was amended in question 109 
by striking out the clause, ^^ tolerating a false Religion^' 
from the catalogue of sins forbidden in the Second Com- 
mandment. 

The following sections were entirely revised : 

Westminster Confession, xxiii. 3. 



The American Revision. 

Civil magistrates may not as- 
sume to themselves the admin- 
istration of the Word and Sac- 
raments, or the power of the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven ; 
or, in the least, interfere in mat- 
ters of faith. Yet as nursing 
fathers, it is the duty of civil 
magistrates to protect the 
church of our common Lord, 
without giving the preference 
to any denomination of Chris- 
tians above the rest, in such a 
manner, that all ecclesiastical 
persons whatever shall enjoy the 
full, free, and unquestioned lib- 
erty of discharging every part 
of their sacred functions, with- 
out violence or danger. And, 
as Jesus Christ hath appointed 



The Original Text. 

The civil magistrate may not 
assume to himself the adminis- 
tration of the Word and Sacra- 
ments, or the power of the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven ; yet 
he hath authority, and it is his 
duty to take order, that unity 
and peace be preserved in the 
Church, that the truth of God 
be kept pure and entire, that all 
blasphemies and heresies be 
suppressed, all corruptions and 
abuses in worship and discipline 
prevented or reformed ; and all 
the ordinances of God duly set- 
tled, administered, and observ- 
ed. For the better effecting 
whereof he hath power to call 
synods, to be present at them, 
and to provide that whatsoever 



366 



AMERICAN PRESBTTERIANISM. 



a regular government and dis- 
cipline in his church, no law of 
any commonwealth should in- 
terfere with, let, or hinder, the 
due exercise thereof, among the 
voluntary members of any de- 
nomination of Christians, ac- 
cording to their own profession 
and belief. It is the duty of civil 
magistrates to protect the per- 
son and good name of all their 
people, in such an effectual 
manner as that no person be 
suffered, either upon pretence 
of religion or infidelity, to offer 
any indignity, violence, abuse, 
or injury to any other person 
whatsoever : and to take order, 
that all religious and ecclesias- 
tical assemblies be held without 
molestation or disturbance. 



is transacted in them be accord- 
ing to the mind of God. 



Westminster Coiifession^ xxxi. I. 

The Ajnerican Revision. 



The Original Text. 

For the better government 
and further edification of the 
Church, there ought to be such 
assemblies as are commonly 
called synods or councils. 

II. As magistrates may law- 
fully call a synod of ministers 
and other fit persons to consult 
and advise with about matters 
of religion : so, if magistrates 
be open enemies to the Church, 
the ministers of Christ, of them- 
selves, by virtue of their office ; 
or they, with other fit persons, 
upon delegation from their 
churches, may meet together 
in such assemblies. 



For the better government 
and further edification of the 
church, there ought to be such 
assemblies as are commonly 
called synods or councils : and 
it belongeth to the overseers 
and other rulers of the particu- 
lar churches, by virtue of their 
office, and the power which 
Christ hath given them for edi- 
fication, and not for destruction, 
to appoint such assemblies ; and 
to convene together in them, as 
often as they shall judge it ex- 
pedient for the good of the 
church. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 3^7 

These changes in the Confession and Larger Cate- 
chism adapt the venerable Westminster symbols to the 
American idea of the separation of Church and State 
and the comprehension of all Christian denominations, 
with equal rights, liberties, and duties under the same 
civil government. 

The Form of Government, Book of Discipline, and 
Directory for Worship were revised with care. The fol- 
lowing preliminary principles were prefixed to them : 

" The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, in 
presenting to the Christian public the system of union, and the 
form of government and discipUne which they have adopted, 
have thought proper to state, by way of introduction, a few of 
the general principles by which they have been governed in the 
formation of the plan. This, it is hoped, will, in some measure, 
prevent those rash misconstructions, and uncandid reflections, 
which usually proceed from an imperfect view of any subject ; as 
well as make the several parts of the system plain, and the whole 
perspicuous and fully understood." 

They are unanimously of opinion : 

" I. That ' God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left 
it free from the doctrine and commandments of men ; which are 
in anything contrary to his word, or beside it in matters of faith 
or worship.' Therefore, they consider the rights of private 
judgement, in all matters that respect religion, as universal and 
unalienable : They do not even wish to see any religious consti- 
tution aided by the civil power, further than may be necessary 
for protection and security, and, at the same time, may be equal 
and common to all others. 

" II. That, in perfect consistency with the above principle of 
common right, ever}'- Christian Church, or union and association 
of particular Churches, are entitled to declare the terms of admis- 
sion into their communion, and the qualifications of their minis- 
ters and members, as well as the whole system of the internal 
government which Christ hath appointed : That in the exercise 
of this right, they may, notwithstanding, err, in making the 
terms of communion either too lax or too narrow : yet, even in 



36$ AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM. 

this case, they do not infringe the liberty, or encroach upon the 
rights of others, but only make an improper use of their own. 

" III. That our blessed Saviour, for the edification of the visi- 
ble church, which is his body, hath appointed officers, not onl)'' 
to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments ; but also to 
exercise discipline, for the preservation both of truth and duty ; 
and, that it is incumbent upon these officers, and upon the whole 
church, in whose name they act, to censure or cast out the erro- 
neous and scandalous ; obser\"ing, in all cases, the rules con- 
tained in the word of God. 

" IV. That truth is in order to goodness ; and the great touch- 
stone of truth, its tendenc}^ to prom.ote holiness ; according to 
our Saviours rule, ' by their fruits ye shall know them.' And 
that no opinion can be either more pernicious or more absurd, 
than that which brings truth and falsehood upon a level, and 
represents it as of no consequence what a man's opinions are. 
On the contrary, they are persuaded that there is an inseparable 
connection between faith and practice, truth and duty. Other- 
wise it would be of no consequence either to discover truth, or 
to embrace it. 

"V. That, while under the conviction of the above principle, 
they think it necessary to make effectual provision, that all who 
are admitted as teachers, be sound in the faith ; they also believe 
that there are truths and forms, with respect to which men of 
good characters and principles may differ. And in all these they 
think it the duty, both of private Christians and Societies, to ex- 
ercise mutual forbearance towards each other. 

" VI. That though the character, qualifications, and authority 
of Church-officers, are laid down in the holy Scriptures, as well 
as the proper method of their investiture and institution ; yet 
the election of the persons, to the exercise of this authority, in 
any particular society, is in that society. 

"VII. That all Church power, whether exercised by the body 
in general, or, in the way of representation, by delegated author- 
ity, is only ministerial and declarative : That is to say, that the 
Holy Scriptures are the only rule of faith and manners ; that no 
Church judicatory ought to pretend to make laws, to bind the 
conscience, in virtue of their own authority; a7id that all their 
decisions should be founded upon the revealed will of God : Now 
though it 7^/7/ easily be admitted, that all Synods and Councils may 
err, through the frailty inseparable from humanity ; yet there is 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 3^9 

much greater danger, from the usurped claim of making laws, 
than from the right of judging upon laws already made, and 
common to all who profess the Gospel ; although this right, as 
necessity requires in the present state, be lodged with fallible 
men. 

"VIII. Lastly, That, if the above Scriptural and rational prin- 
c'ples be steadfastly adhered to, the vigour and strictness of their 
discipline will contribute to the glory and happiness of any 
Church. Since discipline must be purely moral and spiritual in 
its object, and not attended with any civil effects, it can derive 
no force whatever, but from its own justice, the approbation of 
an impartial public, and the countenance and blessing of the 
great Head of the Church universal." 

The revision of the six documents having been com- 
pleted, the following action was taken : 

" The Synod having fully considered the draught of the form 
of government and discipline, did, on a review of the whole, and 
hereby do ratify and adopt the same, as now altered and 
amended, as the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in 
America, and order the same to be considered and strictly 
observed as the rule of their proceedings, by all the inferior 
judicatories belonging to the body. And they order that a 
correct copy be printed, and that the Westminster Confession of 
Faith, as now altered, be printed in full along with it, as making 
a part of the constitution. 

" Resolved, That the true intent and meaning of the above 
ratification by the Synod, is, that the Form of Government and 
Discipline and the Confession of Faith, as now ratified, is to con- 
tinue to be our constitution and the confession of our faith and 
practice unalterable, unless two thirds of the Presbyteries under 
the care of the General Assembly shall propose alterations or 
amendments, and such alterations or amendments shall be agreed 
to and enacted by the General Assembly. 

" The Synod having now revised and corrected the draught of 
a directory for worship, did approve and ratify the same, and do 
hereby appoint the said directory, as now amended, to be the 
directory for the worship of God in the Presbyterian Church in 
the United States of America. They also took into considera- 
24 



370 AMERICAN PRESBYTEEIANISM. 

tion the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and having 
made a small amendment of the larger, did approve, and do 
hereby approve and ratify the said Catechisms, as now agreed 
on, as the Catechisms of the Presbyterian Church in the said 
United States. And the Synod order, that the said Directory 
and Catechisms be printed and bound up in the same volume 
with the Confession of Faith and the Form of Government and 
Discipline, and that the whole be considered as the standard of 
our doctrine, government, discipline, and worship, agreeably to 
the resolutions of the Synod at their present sessions." {Records, 
pp. 546-547.) 

The Synod adopted the Constitution in the sense of 
the original Adopting Act of 1729 and the terms of the 
Reunion of 1758.* This is clear from the terms of sub- 
scription required of candidates for ordination : 

" I. Do you believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments to be the word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and 
practice } 

" 2. Do you sincerely receive and adopt the confession of faith 
of this church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the 
Holy Scriptures ? 

" 3. Do you approve of the government and discipline of the 
Presb3rterian Church in these United States ? 

" 4. Do you promise subjection to ycur brethren in the Lord ? 

" 5. Have you been induced, as far as you know your own 
heart, to seek the office of the holy ministry from love to God, 
and a sincere desire to promote his glory in the gospel of his 
Son.> 

" 6. Do you promise to be zealous and faithful in maintaining 
the truths of the gospel, and the purity and peace of the church ; 
whatever persecution or opposition may arise unto you on that 
account ? 

"7. Do you engage to be faithful and diligent in the exercise 
of all private and personal duties, which become you as a 
Christian and a minister of the gospel ; as well as in all relative 
duties, and the public duties of your office; endeavouring to 
adorn the profession of the gospel by your conversation; and 



* See pp. 216, 319. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 3^1 

walking with exemplary piety before the flock over which God 
shall make you overseer ? " 

In these ordination vows are v^rapt up all the prin- 
ciples for which American Presbyterians had been con- 
tending from the beginning — liberal subscription to the 
system of doctrine^ a general approval of the Presbyterian 
mode of government and discipline, and the necessity of 
piety and gracious experience in the ministry. 

The spirit of Jonathan Dickinson and Gilbert Tennent 
animated the Synod of 1788 ; and the Holy Spirit of God 
presided over their deliberations, and brought the body 
to a harmonious and a unanimous conclusion. 

That the Synod was a broad and tolerant body, is 
clear from external and internal testimony. The Pres- 
bytery of Suffolk was offended at some proposed modi- 
fications in the Form of Government, in the direction of 
strictness. The Synod replied to their Overture in 1787 
requesting a separation, with the desire that their request 
should be reconsidered, representing : 

" We have always supposed that you, as brethren with us, be- 
lieved in the same general system of doctrine, discipline, worship, 
and Church government, as the same is contained in the West- 
minister Confession of Faith, Catechisms, and Directory 

We are Presbyterians, and we firmly believe the Presbyterian 
system of doctrine, discipline, and Church government to be 
nearer to the Word of God than that of any other sect or de- 
nomination of Christians. Shall all other sects and parties be 
united among themselves for their support and increase, and 
Presbyterians divided and subdivided, so as to be the scorn of 
some and the prey of others .'* " {Records, p. 532.) 

This letter, and the able Committee appointed by 
Synod to '' remove difficulties," gave satisfaction to the 
Presbytery of Suffolk, and it continued cordially with 
the Synod, and united in the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion. It was the '' general system of doctrine, discipline, 



372 AMERICAN PRESS YTERIANISM. 

worship, and church government," which was adopted 
in the Constitution, and matters not essential and neces- 
sary to this ''general system " were in 1789, as in 1729 
and 1758, not binding. 

We have also external testimony. William Marshall, 
of the Scots Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia,^ in his 
Catechism (1784) thus describes the Synod of New York 
and Philadelphia: 

" This Synod, and the people under their inspection, are the 
most numerous body of Presbyterians in the United States. 
They are composed of ministers and people from different coun- 
tries ; hence it is not surprising that they are not of one heart 
and one mind in the faith. However, it appears to be a received 
principle among them that whatever ig disputed among the pious 
and learned ought not to be a term of communion in the Chris- 
tian Church, and hence they Hve generally in peace with one 

another, notwithstanding their jarring sentiments " (p. 137) 

" The divine right of Presbyterial government is not generally ad- 
mitted, but they maintain Church government to be doubtful ; 
hence ministers of the Episcopal, Independent, and Baptist com- 
munions who have a glaring appearance of piety, are admitted 
into their pulpits " (p. 139). 

This representation is certainly overdrawn, and is to 
be estimated as coming from a bitter partisan, and yet 
the underlying truth in it, which Marshall meant for 
censure, is a highly creditable representation of the 
catholic spirit and character of the American Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

With the adoption of the Constitution and the organi- 
zation of the General Assembly, the American Presby- 
terian Church passed from the colonial period, and en- 
tered into the first period of the history of the American 
nation, as a fully-organized and well-equipped body, on 



* Marshall was one of the two ministers who declined to unite with the Asso- 
ciate Reformed Synod, and adhered to the Anti-Burger Synod of Scotland. See 
p. 358. 



THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 373 

an equality with the Presbyterian bodies of the Old 
World. It had been planted by English Presbyterians ; 
these had united with a generous type of Irish and 
Scotch Presbyterians in the organization of a Presbytery ; 
the Presbytery received into its membership Presbyte- 
rians from many lands and of many types, and grew into 
a Synod ; it adopted the Westminster Standards in 1729, 
and steered safely between the Scylla of the license of 
non-subscription and the Charybdis of the tyranny of 
strict subscription. The first rupture brought on by 
violence was a severe lesson to the strict subscriptionists 
and narrow dogmatists, and the reunion re-established 
the w^iole Church on the platform of the original Adopt- 
ing Act. When the Constitution was adopted, the 
American Presbyterian Church adhered to its original 
position, and there it stands to-day after another century 
of progress, disruption, reunion, and marvellous growth. 
About this banner of a broad, generous, and tolerant 
Presbyterianism, all the Presbyterian bodies of the land 
will eventually rally. When they have learned to value 
less the national peculiarities which they have inherited 
from their foreign ancestors, and to insist less upon the 
minor matters and circumstantials of religion which they 
have received by tradition of the elders, they will see 
that the essential and prudential American Presbyterian- 
ism which combines the conservative and the progressive 
forces of the age, and comprehends all the legitimate 
types of Presbyterianism, is vastly higher than any of the 
elements of which it is composed, be they Huguenot, 
Puritan, Covenanter, Dutch, Welsh, Irish, Swiss, Ger- 
man, or any other. 



APPENDIX. 



This Appendix contains a number of official documents ; several 
letters, recently discovered by the author, and by other friends who 
have kindly granted him permission to use the?n ; and illustrative 
matter of various sorts, which would have overburdened the nar- 
rative. 

I. 

The Book of Discipline of the Elizabethan Presbyte- 
rians. 
When the English Presbyterians in the reign of Elizabeth 
undertook to establish the Presbyterian discipline in the Church 
of England it was necessary for them to agree upon a book of 
Discipline. Such a book was drafted by Walter Travers and 
Thomas Cartwright, on the basis of the larger work of Travers. 
which was published in 1574, under the title \ Ecclesiasticce Dis- 
ciplines et An^licance EcclesicB ab ilia aberratione, plena e verbo 
Dei et dilucida Explicatio, and translated in the same year by 
Thomas Cartwright. A second edition of the translation was 
published at Geneva in 1580. The draft of the Book of Disci- 
pline was carefully considered by conferences in London and 
Warwickshire. In 1584 it was revised by a general synod in 
London, and referred to Mr. Travers for correction. In 1588 it 
was signed at an Assembly in Warwickshire, and in 1590 by as 
many as 500 ministers in all parts of England. The original edi- 
tion in Latin seems to have entirely disappeared. It was dili- 
gently searched for by the prelates, and wherever found it was 
destroyed. A few copies of an English translation were pre- 
served. In 1644 a copy (found in the study of Thomas Cartwright) 
was republished in London. This copy was reprinted in 1872 as 
"a contribution to the Tercentenary Commemoration, by 'the 
Synod of the Presbyterian Church in England,' of the erection 
of the First Presbytery in England at Wandsworth in the year 
1572," edited by the late Principal Lorimer. We follow the edi- 
tion of 1 6/14 iri exact reproduction. 



{{ APPENDIX. 

A Directory of Church-government. Anciently contended for, 
and as far re as the Times would suffer, practised by the first Non- 
conformists in the daies of Queen Elizabeth. Found in the study 
of the most accomplished Divine, Mr. Thomas Cartwright, after 
his decease ; and reserved to be published for such a time as this. 
Published by authority. London, printed for John Wright in the 
Old'baily. 1 644. 



The Sacred Discipline of the Church, described in the 
Word of God. 

The Discipline of Christs Church that is necessary for all times 
is delivered by Christ, and set downe in the holy Scriptures. 
Therefore the true and lawfull Discipline is to be fetched from 
thence, and from thence alone. And that which resteth upon 
any other foundation ought to be esteemed unlawfull and coun- 
terfeit. 

Of all particular Churches there is one and the same right 
order and forme : Therefore also no one may challenge to it 
selfe any power over others ; nor any right which doth not alike 
agree to others. 

The Ministers of publique charges in every particular Church 
ought to be called and appointed to their charges by a lawfull 
Ecclesiastical 1 calling, such as hereafter is set downe 

All these for the divers regard of their severall kinds are of 
equal! power amongst themselves. 

No man can be lawfully called to publique charge in any 
Church, but he that is fit to discharge the same. And none is 
to be accounted fit, but he that is endued with the common gifts 
of all the godly ; that is, with faith, and a blamelesse life : And 
further also, with those that are proper to that Ministery wherein 
he is to be used, and necessary for the executing of the same ; 
whereupon for trial 1 of those gifts some convenient way and ex- 
amination is to be used. 

The party to be called must first be elected, then he is to be 
ordained to that charge where unto he is chosen, by the prayers 
of that Church whereunto he is to be admitted; the mutuall 
duties of him and of the Church being before laid open. 

The Ministers of the Church are, first they that are Ministers 
of the word. In their examination it is specially to be taken 



CARTWRIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. iiJ 

heed unto, that they be apt to teach, and tryed men, not utterly 
unlearned, nor newly planted and converted to the Faith. 

Now these Ministers of the word are, first Pastors, which doe 
administer the Word and Sacraments, then Teachers, which are 
occupied in wholsome doctrine. 

Besides there are also Elders, which watch over the life and 
behaviour of every man, and Deacons, which have care over the 
poore. 

Further, in every particular Church there ought to be a Pres- 
bytery, which is a Consistory, and as it were a Senate of Elders. 
Under the name of Elders here are contained they who in the 
Church minister doctrine, and they who are properly called 
Elders. 

By the common Counsell of the Eldership all things are di- 
rected that belong to the state of their Church. First, such as 
belong to the guidance of the whole body of it in the holy and 
common assembly gathered together in the name of the Lord, 
that all things may be done in them duely, orderly, and to edifi- 
cation. 2. Then also such as pertain e to particular persons. 
First, to all the members of that Church, that the good may 
enjoy all the priviledges that belong unto them, that the wicked 
may be corrected with Ecclesiasticall censures according to the 
quality of the fault, private and publique, by admonishing it by 
remooving either from the Lords Supper by suspension (as it is 
commonly called) or out of the Church by Excomm.unication. 
The which belong specially to the Ministers of publique charge 
in the Church to their calling either to be begun or ended, and 
ended either by relieving or punishing them, and that for a time 
by suspension or altogether by deposition. 

For directing of the Eldership let the Pastors be set over it, or 
if there be no Pastors then one in the same Church, let the Pas- 
tors doe it in their turnes. 

But yet in all the greater affaires of the Church, as in Excom- 
municating of any, and in choosing and deposing of Church Min- 
isters, nothing may be concluded without the knowledge and 
consent of the Church. 

Particular Churches ought to yeeld mutuall help one to an- 
other, for which caase they are to communicate amongst them- 
selves. 

The end of this communicating together is, that all things in 
them may be so directed both in regard of Doctrine and also of 
Discipline, as by the Word of God they ought to bee. 



Jy APPENDIX. 

Therefore the things that belong hereunto are determined by 
the common opinion of those who meet so to communicate to- 
gether, and whatsoever is to be amended furthered or procured 
in any of those several! Churches that belong to that assembly. 
Wherein, albeit no particular Church hath power over another, 
yet every particular Church of the same resort, meeting and 
counsell, ought to obey the opinion of more Churches with whom 
they communicate. 

For holding of these meetings and assemblies there are to be 
chosen by every Church belonging to that assembly, principall 
men from among the Elders, who are to have their instructions 
from them, and so to bee sent to the Assembly. There must be 
also a care had, that the things they shall returne to have been 
godly agreed on by the meetings, be diligently observed by the 
Churches. 

Further in such assemblies there is also to be chosen one that 
may be set over the assemblies, who may moderate and direct 
them. His duty is to see, that the assemblies be held godly, 
quiet and comely. Therefore it belongeth unto him to begin 
and end the conference with prayer, to know every mans in- 
structions, to propound in order the things that are to bee 
handled, to gather their opinions, and to propound what is the 
opinion of the greater part. It is also the part of the rest of the 
assembly to speak their opinions of the things propounded godly 
and quietly. 

The Synodicall Discipline gathered out of the Synods 
and use of the churches which have restored it 
according to the word of god, and out of sundry 
bookes that are written of the same, and referred 
unto certain heads. 

Of the tiecessity of a Calling, 

Let no man thrust himselfe into the executing of any part of 
publique charge in the administration of the Word, Sacraments, 
Discipline or care over the poore. Neither let any such sue or 
seek for any publique charge of the Church, but let every one 
tarry untill hee bee lawfully called. 
The majtner of ent7-ing and deter?m'mng of a Calling and against a 

Mi7iistery of no certaine place ; and the desertio?i of a Church. 

Let none be called but unto some certain charge ordained of 
God, and to the exercising of the same in some particular Con- 



CAKTWRIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. y 

gregation. And he that is so called let him be so bound to that 
Church that he may not after be of any other, or depart from it 
without the consent thereof. Let none be called, but they that 
have first subscribed the confession of Doctrine and Discipline. 
Whereof let them be admonished to have copies with them- 
selves. 

In the examination of Ministers the testimony of the place 
from whence they come is to be demanded, whereby it may bee 
understood what life and conversation hee hath been of, and 
whether he hath been addicted to any Heresie, or to the reading 
of any hereticall books, or to curious and strange questions and 
idle speculations ; or rather whether hee be accompted sound 
and consenting in all things to the Doctrine received in the 
Church. Whereunto if hee agree, hee is also to expound some 
part of the holy Scriptures twice or oftner, as it shall seem meet 
to the examiners, and that before the Conference, and that 
Church which is interessed. Let him also be demanded of the 
principall heads of Divinity. And whether he will diligently 
execute and discharge his Ministery, and in the execution thereof 
propound unto himselfe not his owne desires and commodities, 
but the glory of God and edification of the Church. Lastly, 
whether hee will be studious and carefull to maintaine and pre- 
serve wholesome Doctrine, and Ecclesiasticall Discipline. Thus 
let the Minister be examined not onely by one Eldership, but 
also by some greater meeting and assembly. 

• 
0/ Election. 

Before the Election of a Minister and the deliberation of the 
Conference concerning the same, let there be a day of Fast kept 
in the Church interessed. 

Of the place of exercising this Calling. 
Albeit it be lawfull for a Minister upon just occasion to Preach 
in another Church then that whereof he is Minister, yet none 
may exercise any ordinary Ministery elsewhere, but for a certaine 
time upon great occasion, and by the consent of his Church and 
Conference. 

Of the Office of the Ministers of the word, and first of the order of 
Liturgy, or Cojnmott Prayer. 
Let the Minister that is to Preach name a Psalme or a part of 
a Psalm (beginning with the first, and so proceeding) that may 



yi APPENDIX. 

be sung by the Church, noting to them the end of their singing 
(to wit) the glory of God and their own edification. After the 
Psalme let a short admonition to the people follow of preparing 
themselves to pray duly unto God. Then let there be made a 
Prayer containing a generall confession. First of the guilt of sin 
both originall and actuall, and of the punishment which is due 
by the Law for them both. Then also of the promise of the Gos- 
pell, and in respect of it supplication of pardon for the said guilt 
and punishment, and petition of grace promised, as for the duties 
of the whole life, so especially for the godly expounding and re- 
ceiving of the Word. Let this petition be concluded with the 
Lords Prayer. After the Sermon, let Prayer be made againe, 
First for grace to profit by the doctrine delivered, the principall 
heads thereof being remembred ; then for all men, but chiefly 
for the universall Church and for all estates and degrees of the 
people ; which is likewise to be ended with the Lords Prayer and 
the singing of a Psalme as before. Last of all let the Congrega- 
tion be dismissed, with some convenient forme of blessing taken 
out of the Scripture, such as is Num. 6.24, 2 Cor. 13.13. 

Of Preaching. 

Let him that shall Preach choose some part of the Canonical! 
Scripture to expound, and not of the Apocrypha. Further in his 
ordinary Ministery, let him not take Postills (as they are called) 
but some whole booke of the holy Scripture, especially of the 
new Testament, to expound in order. In choise whereof regard 
is to be had both of the Ministers ability, and of the edification 
of the Church. 

He that Preacheth must performe two things, the first that his 
speech bee uncorrupt, which is to be considered both in regard of 
the Doctrine, that it be holy, sound, wholsome and profitable to 
edification, not divelish, hereticall, leavened, corrupt, fabulous, 
curious, or contentious ; and also in respect of the manner of it, 
that it be proper to the place which is handled, that is, whicli 
either is contained plainly in the very words ; or if it be gathered 
by consequent, that the same be fit and cleere and such as may 
rise upon the property of the word, grace of speech and suit of 
the matter, and not be allegoricall, strange, wrested or far 
fetched. Now let that which is such, and chiefly which is fittest 
for the times and occasions of the Church, be delivered. Fur- 
ther let the explication, confirmation, enlargement and applica- 



CARTWRIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. yji 

tion, and the whole Treatise and handHng of it be in the vulgar 
tongue, and let the whole confirmation and proofe be made by- 
arguments, testimonies and examples taken only out of the holy 
Scriptures, applied fitly and according to the naturall meaning 
of the places that are alleadged. 

The second thing to be performed by him that preacheth is a 
reverend gravity ; This is considerea first in the stile, phrase and 
manner of speech, that it be spirituall, pure, proper, simple and 
applied to the capacity of the people, not such as humane wis- 
dome teacheth, nor savoring of new fanglednesse, nor either so 
affectate as it may serve for pompe and ostentation, or so care- 
lesse, and base, as becommeth not Ministers of the Word of God. 
Secondly, it is also to be regarded aswell in ordering the voyce, 
in which a care must be had that (avoyding the keeping alwa3'^es 
of one tune) it may be equall, and both rise and fall by degrees ; 
as also in ordering the gesture, wherein (the body being upright) 
the guiding and ordering the whole body is to follow the voyce, 
there being avoyded in it all unseemly gestures of the head or 
other part^and often turning of the body to divers sides. Finally 
let the gesture be grave, modest and seemly, not utterly none, 
nor too much neither like the gestures of Playes or Fencers. 

These things are to be performed by him that Preacheth, 
whereby when need requireth they may be examined who are 
trayned and exercised to be made fit to Preach : Let there be, if 
it may be, every Sabbath day two Sermons, and let them that 
preach alwayes endeavour to keepe themselves within one houre, 
especially on the weekdayes. The use of preaching at Burialls 
is to be left as it may bee done conveniently, because there is 
danger that they may nourish the superstition of some, or bee 
abused to pompe and vanity. 

Of the Catechisme. 
Let the Catechisme bee taught in every Church. Let there 
be two sorts. One more large applied to the delivering of the 
sum of Religion by a sute and order of certaine places of the 
Scriptures, according to which some point of the holy Doctrine 
may be expounded every week. Another of the same sort but 
shorter, fit for the examination of the rude and ignorant before 
they be admitted to the Lords Supper. 

Of the other parts of Liturgy or Divine Service. 
All the rest of the Liturgy or Divine Service consisteth in the 
administration of the Sacraments and by the custome of the 



Viii APPENDIX. 

Church in the blessing of Marriage. The most commodious 
forme thereof is that which is used by the Churches that have 
reformed their Discipline according to the Word of God. 

Of Sacraments. 

Let onely a Minister of the Word that is a Preacher minister 
the Sacraments, and that after the preaching of the Word, and 
not in any other place then in the publique assemblies of the 
Church. 

Of Baptisme. 

Women only may not offer unto Baptisme those that are to 
be baptized, but the Father if it may be, or in his name some 
other. They which present unto Baptisme ought to be per- 
swaded not to give those that are Baptized the names of God or 
of Christ, or of Angells or of holy Offices, as of Baptist, Evange- 
list, &c. nor such as savour of Paganisme or Popery ; but chiefly 
such whereof there are examples in the holy Scriptures in the 
names of those who are reported in them to have beene godly 
and vertuous. 

Of the Commumon. 

Let the time of celebrating the Communion bee made known 
eight dayes before, that the Congregation may prepare themselves, 
and that the Elders may do their duty in going to and visiting 
whom they ought. 

Of Sigftifying their names that are to communicate. 

Let them which before have not beene received to the Lords 
Table when they first desire to come to it, give their names to 
the Minister seaven dayes before the Communion that care of 
enquiring of them may be committed to the Elders, that if there 
be any cause of hindrance there may be stay made betime ; but 
if there be no such thing let them proceed (where neede may be) 
to the examining of their faith before some of the Elders and 
Ministers every moneth before the Communion. Let this whole 
Treatise of Discipline be read in the consistory, and let the Min- 
isters, Elders and Deacons be censured one after an other ; yet 
so that the Minister concerning Doctrine be censured of Minis- 
ters only. 

Let them only be admitted to the Communion that have made 
confession of their faith, and submitted themselves to the Disci- 
pline ; unlesse they shall bring letters testimoniall of good credit 



CARTWKIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. {^ 

from some other place, or shall approve themselves by some 
other suflicient testimonie. 

Children are not to be admitted to the Communion before 
they be of the age of 14 yeares except the consistory shall other- 
wise determine. 

On the Sabbath-day next before the Communion, let mention 
be made in the Sermon of the examination, wherunto the Apos- 
tle exhorteth, and of the peace that is by faith, in the day of 
the Communion, let there be speech of the Doctrine of the Sac- 
raments, and especially of the Lords Supper. 

0/ Fasting. 
Let the day of Fasting bee published by the Pastor according 
to the advise of the consistory, either for supplication, for turn- 
ing away of calamities present or threatened ; or for petition of 
some speciall grace. Let the Sermons upon the same day before 
and after noone (as on the Lords day) bee such as may bee fit 
for the present occasion. 

Of Holidaies. 

Holidaies are conveniently to be abolished. 

Of Marriage. 

Let espousing goe before marriage. Let the words of espous- 
ing be of the present time, and without condition, and before 
sufficient witnesses on both sides. It is to be wished that the 
Minister or an Elder be present at the espousals, who having 
called upon God may admonish both parties of their duties. 
First, may have care of avoyding the degrees forbidden both by 
the Law of God and man : and then they may demand of them, 
whether they be free from any bond of Marriage, which if they 
professe and be strangers, he may also require sufficient testi- 
mony. Further also they are to be demanded, whether they 
have been married before, and of the death of the party with 
whom they were married, which if they acknowledge and be 
strangers he may demand convenient testimony of the death of 
the other party. Finally, let them be asked if they be under the 
government of any; whether they whom it concerneth have 
consented. 

The Espousals being done in due order, let them not be dis- 
solved, though both parties should consent. Let the marriage 
be solemnized within two moneths after. Before the marriage 



X APPENDIX. 

let the promise be published three severall Sabbath dales ; but 
first, let the parties espoused, with their parents or governours 
desire the publishing thereof of the Minister and two Elders at 
the least, that they may be demanded of those things that are 
needfull, and let them require to see the instrument of the cove- 
nant of the Marriage, or at least sufficient testimony of the Es- 
pousals. Marriage may be solemnized and blessed upon any 
ordinary day of publique prayer, saving upon a day of Fast. 

Of Schooles. 
Let children be instructed in Schooles ; both in other learning, 
and especially in the Catechisme; that they may repeat it by 
heart, and understand it; when they are so instructed, let them 
be brought to the Lords Supper, after they have been examined 
by the Minister, and allowed by him. 

Of Students of Divinity, and their Exercises. 

In every Church where it may conveniently be done, care is to 
be had that some poore Schollers studious of Divinity being fit 
for Theologicall exercises, and especially for expounding of holy 
Scripture, may by the liberality of the godly rich be taught and 
trained up to preach. 

Let that exposition as often as it shall be convenient to be had 
be in the presence at least of one Minister, by whose presence 
they may be kept in order, and in the same sort, (as touching the 
manner of preaching; that publique Sermons are made. Which 
being ended, let the other students (he being put apart that was 
Speaker) note wherein he hath failed in any of those things that 
are to be performed by him that preacheth publiquely, as is set 
down before. Of whose opinion let the Minister that is present 
and is moderator of their exercise, judge and admonish the 
speaker, as he shall thinke meet. 

Of Elders. 
Let the Elders know every particular house and person of the 
Church, that they may enforme the Minister of the condition of 
every one, and the Deacons of the sicke, and poore, that they 
may take care to provide for them : they are not to be perpetuall, 
neither yet easily to be changed. 



CARTWRIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. ^i 

Of Consistories. 

In the Consistory the most voices are to be yeelded unto. In 
it onely Ecclesiasticall things are to be handled. Of them ; first 
they are to be dealt with such as belong to the common direction 
of the publique assembly, in the order of Liturgy or divine Ser- 
vice, Sermon, Prayers, Sacraments, Marriages, and Burials. Then 
with such also as pertaine to the oversight of every one, and 
their particular deeds. Further, they are to cause such things 
as shall be thought meet to be registred and written in a booke. 
They are also to cause to be written in another booke the names 
of them that are baptized, with the names of their parents and 
sureties. Likewise of the Communicants. Further also are to 
be noted their names that are married, that die, and to whom 
Letters testimoniall are given. 

Of the Censures. 

None is to be complained of unto the Consistory unlesse first 
the matter being uttered with silencing the parties name, if it 
seem meet so to be done by the judgment of the Consistory. 

In private and lesse faults the precept of Christ, Mat. i8. is to 
be kept. 

Greater and publique offences are to be handled by the Con- 
sistory. Further publique offences are to be esteemed, first, such 
as are done openly before all, or whomsoever, the whole Church 
knowing of it. Secondly, such as be done in a publique place, 
albeit few know it. Thirdly, that are made such by pertinacy 
and contempt. Fourthly, that for the heinousnesse of the of- 
fence are to be punished with some grievous civill punishment. 

They that are to be excommunicated being in publique charge 
in the Church, are to be deposed also from their charges. They 
also are to be discharged that are unfit for the Ministery by rea- 
son of their ignorance, or of some incurable disease, or by any 
other such cause, are disabled to performe their Ministery. But 
in the roomes of such as are disabled by meanes of sicknesse or 
age, let another be placed without the reproach of him that is 
discharged ; and further, so as the reverence of the Ministery may 
remaine unto him, and he may be provided for liberally and in 
good order. 

When there is question concerning an heretique, complained 



xii APPENDIX. 

of to the Consistory, straight let two or three neighbour Minis- 
ters be called, men godly and learned, and free from that suspi- 
tion, by whose opinion he may be suspended till such time as 
the Conference may take knowledge of his cause. 

The obstinate after admonition by the Consistory, though the 
fault have not been so great, are to be suspended from the Com- 
munion ; and if they continue in their obstinacy, this shall be the 
order to proceed to their Excommunication. Three severall 
Sabbath dales after the Sermon publiquely let be declared the 
offence committed by the offender. The first Sabbath let not 
the offenders name be published. The second let it be declared, 
and withall a certaine day of the weeke named, to be kept for 
that cause in fasting and prayer. The third let warning be given 
of his Excommunicating to follow the next Sabbath after, except 
there may be shewed some sufficient cause to the contrary : so 
upon the fourth Sabbath day let the sentence of Excommunica- 
tion be pronounced against him, that his spirit may be saved in 
the day of the Lord. 

He that hath committed great offences, opprobrious to the 
Church, and to be grievously punished by the Magistrates au- 
thority, albeit he professe his repentance in words, yet for the 
triall thereof, and to take away the offence, let him for a time be 
kept from the Communion. Which how often, and how long it 
is to be done, let the Consistory according to their discretion 
determine. After which, if the party repent, he is brotherly to 
be received againe ; but not untill he have openly professed his 
repentance before the Church, by consent whereof he should 
have been Excommunicated. 

If the Ministers of any publique charge of the Church commit 
any such thing, they are to be deposed from their charge. 

Of the assemblies of the Church. 

Particular Churches are to communicate one with another by 
common meetings and resorts. In them onely Ecclesiasticall 
matters are to be handled, and of those, onely such as pertaine 
to the Churches of that resort ; concerning other Churches, un- 
lesse they be desired, they are to determine nothing further then 
to referre such matters to their next common and great meeting. 

Let the Order of proceeding in them be this : First, let the 
survey be taken of those that are present, and the names of 
those that are absent, and should be there, be noted that they 



CART WRIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. xiii 

may give a reason at their next meeting of their absence, or be 
censured by the judgement of the assembly next. Let the acts 
of the last assembly of that kinde be read, that if any of the same 
remaine unfinished they may be dispatched. Then let those 
things be dealt in that are properly belonging to the present as- 
sembly. Where first the instructions sent from the Churches 
are to be delivered by every one in order, as they fit together, 
with their Letters of credence. Secondly, let the state of the 
Churches of that resort be considered, to wit, how they are in- 
structed and guided. Whether the holy Doctrine and Discipline 
be taught and exercised in them, and whether the Ministers of 
publique charges doe their duty, and such like. Furthermore 
they shall determine of those things that doe appertaine to the 
common state of all the Churches of that resort, or unto any of 
the same, which way may be sufficient for the oversight of the 
Churches. Lastly, if it seem meet, the Delegates present may 
be censured. 

They that are to meet in such assemblies are to be chosen by 
the consent of the Churches of that assembly and conference to 
whom it may appertaine. 

Let such onely be chosen that exercise publique function in 
the Church of Ministery or Eldership, and which have subscribed 
to the Doctrine and Discipline, and have promised to behave 
themselves according to the Word of God. Notwithstanding it 
may be lawfull also to be present for other Elders and other 
Ministers, and likewise (if the Assembly thinke it meet) for Dea- 
cons and for Students in Divinity, especially those that exercise 
themselves in expounding the holy Scriptures in the Confer- 
ences, and be asked their opinion. Which in students is to this 
end, that their judgements in handling matters Ecclesiasticall 
may be both tried and sharpned. But they onely are to give 
voyce which are chosen by the Churches, and have brought their 
instructions signed from them. 

If there fall out any very waighty matter to be consulted of, 
let notice of it be given to the Moderator of the Assembly next 
going before, or to the Minister of that Church where the next 
meeting is to be. The same is to send word of it in due time to 
the Minister of every Church of that Assembly, that they may 
communicate it afore-hand with those to whom it appertaineth, 
that the Delegates resorting to the next meeting may understand 
and report their judgements. 



xiv APPENDIX. 

In appointing of the place for the Assembly regard must be 
had of the convenient distance, and other commodities that no 
part may justly complaine that they are burthened above others. 

In every such Ecclesiasticall Assembly it is meet there be a 
Moderator. Hee is to have charge of the Assembly, to see it 
kept in good order. Hee is alwaies, if it may be conveniently, to 
be changed. The choise is to be in this manner : 

The Moderator of the former Assembly of that kind, or in his 
absence the Minister of the Church where they meet, having 
first prayed fitly to that purpose, is to move the Assembly to 
choose a Moderator. He being chosen is to provide that the 
things done in the Assembly may be written, that the Delegates 
of every Church may write them out and communicate them 
with the Conferences from whence they came. 

The Moderator is also by the order and judgement of the As- 
sembly, to give answer either by speech or by Letters, to such as 
desire any answer, and to execute censures if any be to be exe- 
cuted. Further, he is to procure all things to be done in it godly 
and quietly, exhorting to meeknesse, moderation of spirit, and 
forbearing one of another where need shall be, and referring it 
to the Assembly to take order for such as are obstinate and con- 
tentious. Lastly, he is to remember them of the next meeting 
following, with thankes for their paines, and exhortation to pro- 
ceed cheerfully in their Callings, and so curteously to dismisse 
the Assembly. Before such time none may depart without leave 
of the Assembly. 

Those Assemblies, according to their kinds have greate au- 
thority, if they be greater ; and lesse, if they be lesse. Therefore 
(unlesse it be a plaine act, and manifest unto all) if any thinke 
himselfe injured by the lesse meeting, he may appeale still unto 
a greater, till he come to a generall Councell, so that hee ascend 
orderly from the lesse to the next greater. But it is to be un- 
derstood, that the sentence of the Assemblies be holden firme 
untill it be otherwise judged by an Assembly of greater au- 
thority. 

Assemblies or meetings are either Conferences or Synods. 

Conferences are the meetings of the Elders of a few Churches, 
as for example, of twelve. There are to meet in a Conference 
chosen by the Eldership of every particular Church, one Minis- 



CART WRIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, xv 

ter, and one Elder. The Conferences are to be kept once in six 
weeks. 

They are specially to looke into the state of the Churches 
that resort and Conference : Examining particularly these seve- 
rall points. Whether all things be done in them according to 
the holy Doctrine and Discipline of the Gospell, (to wit) whether 
any questions be moved concerning any point of Doctrine. 
Whether the Ecclesiasticall Discipline be duely observed. 
Whether any Minister be wanting in any of those Churches, 
that a sufficient one in due time may be procured. Whether the 
other Ministers of publique charge in the Church be appointed 
in every Congregation. Whether care be had of Schooles, and 
for the poore. Finally, they are to be demanded wherein any of 
them needeth the advice of the Conference, for the advancement 
of the Gospell amongst them. 

Before the end of the meeting, if it shall be so thought good 
by them, let one of the Ministers assembled in Conference either 
chosen by voyce, or taking it by turn, Preach publiquely. Of 
his Speech let the rest judge among themselves (the Elders being 
put apart) and admonish him brotherly, if there be any cause, 
examining all things according to those Rules that are before 
declared in the Chapter concerning the things that are to be per- 
formed by those that preach. 

Of Synods. 

A Synod is the meeting of chosen men of many Conferences. 
In them let the whole Treatise of Discipline be read. In them 
also (other things first being finished as was said before) let all 
those that are present be censured (if it may be done conven- 
iently) and let them also have a communion in, and with the 
Church where ihey were called. 

There are two sorts of Synods, the first is particular, which 
comprehendeth both the Provinciall and Nationall Synod. A 
Provinciall Synod is the meeting of the chosen Men of every 
Conference, within the Province. A Province containeth foure 
and twenty conferences. 

A fit way to call a provinciall councell may be this, The care 
thereof (except themselves will determine of it) may be com- 
mitted to the particular Eldership of some conference within the 
Province, which by advise of the same conference may appoint 
the place and time for the meeting of the Provinciall Synod. 



Xyi APPENDIX. 

To that Church or Eldership are to be sent the matters that 
seemed to the particular conferences more difficult for them to 
take order in, and such as belong to the Churches of the whole 
Province, which is to be done diligently, and in good time, that 
the same may in due season give notice of the place and time of 
the Synod, and of the matters to be debated therein, that they 
which shall be sent may come the better prepared and judge of 
them according to the advise of the Conferences. 

Two Ministers and as many Elders are to be sent from every 
Conference unto the Provinciall Synod : The same is to be held 
every halfe yeare or oftner till the Discipline be setled. It is to 
be held three moneths before every nationall Synod, that they 
may prepare and make ready those things that pertaine to the 
Nationall. The acts of the Provinciall Synod are to be sent unto 
the Nationall, by the Eldership of that Church in which it was 
holden, and every Minister is to be furnished with a Copy of 
them, and with the reasons of the same. A National Synod or 
convocation is a meeting of the chosen men of every Province, 
within the Dominion of the same Nation and civill government. 
The way to call it (unlesse it shall determine otherwise) may be 
the same with the Provinciall, that is, by the Eldership of some 
particular Church, which shall appoint the time and place of the 
next Nationall Convocation ; but not otherwise then by the ad- 
vise of their Provinciall Synod. 

Out of every Provinciall Synod there are to bee chosen three 
Ministers, and as many Elders to bee sent to the Nationall. They 
are to handle the things pertaining to the Churches of the whole 
Nation or Kingdome, as the Doctrine, Discipline, Ceremonies, 
things not decided by inferiour meetings, appeales and such like. 
By the order of the same, one is to bee appointed which may 
gather into one booke the Notes of every particular Church. 

Thus much for particular meetings, the universall followeth, 
which is called a generall, or cecomenicall councell, which is a 
meeting of the chosen men of every Nationall Synod. The acts 
of all such councells are to be registred and reported in a book. 

The Discipline intituled the Discipline of the Church de- 
scribed in the Word of God, as farre as we can judge, is taken, 
and drawne from the most pure Fountaine of the Word of God, 
and containeth in it the Discipline of the Church that is neces- 
sary, essentiall and common to all ages of the Church. 

The Synodicall also adjoyned as it resteth upon the same 



CART WRIGHT'S BOOK OF DISCIPLINE. xvii 

foundations is likewise necessary and perpetuall. But as farre as 
it is not expressly, confirmed by Authority of the holy Scripture, 
but is applied to the use and times of the Church as their di- 
vers states may require, accordmg to the Analogy and general 1 
Rules of the same Scripture, is to bee judged profitable for the 
Churches that receive it, but may bee changed in such things as 
belong not to the essence of the Discipline upon a like godly 
reason, as the divers estates of the Church may require. 

The forme of the Subscription. 

The Brethren of the conference of N. whose names are here 
under written have subscribed this discipline after this manner. 
This Discipline wee allow as a godly Discipline, and agreeable to 
the Word of God, (yet so as wee may be first satisfied in the 
things hereunder noted) and desire the same so acknowledged 
by us, to be furthered by all lawfull meanes, that by publique 
authority of the Magistrate, and of our Church it may bee estab- 
lished. 

Which thing, if it may bee obtained of Her right Excellent 
Majesty, and other the Magistrates of this Kingdome, we prom- 
ise that we will doe nothing against it whereby the publique 
peace of the Church may be troubled. In the mean time we 
promise to observe it so far as it may be lawfull for us so to doe, 
by the publique Lawes of this Kingdome, and by the Peace of our 
Church 



II. 

ARCHBISHOP USSHER'S REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY UNDER THE 
FORM OF SYNODICAL GOVERNMENT. 

Archbishop Ussher, in 1641, proposed a plan of ecclesiastical re- 
form which, it was supposed, would suit moderate men of the 
Episcopal and Presbyterian parties. It retained Episcopacy, but 
made it a part of a Presbyterian or Synodical Government of the 
Church. If Archbishop Ussher and the Episcopal Puritans had 
taken part in the Westminster Assembly, they might have allied 
themselves with the moderate Presb5rterians, and made this 
scheme the basis of ecclesiastical reform. But they absented 



xviii APPENDIX. 

themselves and left the Presbyterians to get on as beit they 
could with the Independents. The scheme of Archbishop 
Ussher was published in an incorrect form under the title : The 
Red::ctio7i of Episccpacie under the form of Synodic al Gover7i- 
meiit, Received in the Antie?ii Church : Proposed as an Expediejtt 
for the co7npromisi7ig of the now Differejices, and the prrtie7iti7ig 
of those Trotibles that 77iay arise about the 77iatter of Church Gover7i- 
jne7it. London, 1656. This induced his friend Nicholas Bernard 
to publish it in a correct edition. We follow the text of Ber- 
nard's edition : The Reduction of Episcopacy U7ito the For 771 of 
Sy nodical Gover7nne7it, Received in the A7icie7it Church : By the 
7nost Reverend and learned Father of our Church, Dr, Ja7nes 
Vsher, late Arch-Bishop of Ar77iagh, and Pri77iate of all Irelajid. 
Proposed i7i the year 164.U as an Expedient for the preve7ition of 
those Troubles, which afterwards did arise about the Tnatter of 
Church-Gov£r7i77ie7it. Published by Nicholas Ber7iard, D. D, 
Preacher to the Ho7tourable Society of Grayes-Pine, Londo7i. 
London, Printed, Anno Domini 1658. 

To THE Reader : 

The Originall of this was given me by the most Reverend 
Primate, some few years before his death, wrote throughout 
with his own hand, and of late I have found it subscribed by 
himself, and Doctor Holseworth, and with a Marginal Note at 
the first Proposition which I have also added. If it may now 
answer the expectation of many pious, and prudent Persons, who 
have desired the publishing of it, as a seasonable preparative to 
some moderation in the midst of those extreams, which this Age 
abounds w^ith, it wall attain the end intended by the Authour : 
And it is likely to be more operative, by the great reputation he 
had, and hath in the hearts of all good men, being far from the 
least suspicion to be byassed by any private ends, but onely aym- 
ing at the reducing of Order, Peace, and Vnity, which God is the 
Authour of, and not of confusion. For the recovery of which, it 
were to be wished, that such as do consent in Substantials, for 
matter of Doctrine, would consider of some conjunction in point 
of Discipline, that private interest and circumstantials, might 
not keep them thus far asunder. 

N. Bernard. 

Grayes-Inne, Octob. 13, 1657. 

The Reduction of Episcopacy unto the form of Synodical 
Government, received in the ancient Church ; proposed in the 



AKCHBISUOP USSIIER'S REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, xix 

year 1641, as an Expedient for the prevention of those troubles, 
which afterwards did arise about the matter of Church-Govern- 
ment. 

Episcopal and Presbyferial Government conjoyned. 

By Order of the Church of England, all Presbyters are 
charged * to administer the Doctrine and Sacraments, and the 
Discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this 
Realme hath received the same ; And that they might the better 
understand what the Lord had commanded therein, t the 
exhortation of Saint Paul, to the Elders of the Church of 
Ephesus is appointed to be read unto them at the time of their 
Ordination ; Take hesd unto yourselves, and to all the flock among 
whom the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers, to \ Rule the 
Congregation of God, which he hath purchased with his blood. 

Of the many Elders, who in common thus ruled the Church of 
Ephesus, there was one President, whom our Saviour in his 
Epistle unto this Church in a peculiar manner stileth §the 
Angell of the Church of Ephesus : and Ignatius in another 
Epistle written about twelve yeares after unto the same Church, 
calleth the Bishop thereof. Betwixt the Bishop and the Pres- 
bytery of that Church, what an harmonius consent there was 
in the ordering of the Church-Government, the same Ignatius 
doth fully there declare, by the Presbytery, with [ Saint Paul, 
understanding the Community of the rest of the Presbyters, or 
Elders, who then had a hand not onely in the delivery of the 
Doctrine and Sacraments, but also in the Administration of the 
Discipline of Christ : for further proof of which, we have that 
known testimony of Tertullian in his general Apology for Chris- 
tians. T In the Church are used exhortations, chastisements, 
and divine censure ; for judgement is given with great advice as 
among those, who are certain they are in the fight of God, and 
in it is the chiefest foreshewing of the judgement which is to 



* The Book of Ordination. t Ibid, ex Act. 20, 27, 28. 

X Trnijuaiveiv. So taken in Mat. II, 6, and Rev. xii. 5, and xix. 15. 

§ Rev. ii, I. I I Tim. iv, 14. 

^ Ibidem etiam exhortationes, castigationes et censura divina ; nam et judi- 
catur magno cum pondere ut apud certos de Dei conspectu, summumque futuri 
judicii praejudicium est, si quis ita deliquerit ut a communicatione orationis, et 
conventus, et omnis sancti commecii relegetur. prassident probati quique seni- 
ores, honorem istum non pretio sed Testimonio adepti. Tertul. Apologet. 
cap. 39. 



XX APPENDIX. 

come, if any man have so offended, that he be banished from the 
Communion of pra37er, and of the Assembly, and of all holy 
fellowship. The Presidents that bear rule therein are certain 
approved Elders, who have obtained this honour not by reward, 
but by good report, who were no other (as he himself intimates) 
elsewhere but * those from whose hands they used to receive 
the Sacrament of the Eucharist. 

For with the Bishop, who was the chiefe President (and there- 
fore stiled by the same Tertullian in another place, fSummus 
Sacerdos for distinction sake) the rest of the dispensers of the 
Word and Sacraments joyned in the common Government of 
the Church ; and therefore, where in matters of Ecclesiasticall 
Judicature, Cornelius Bishop of Rome used the received forme 
of Igathering together the Presbytery ; of what persons that did 
consist, Cyprian sufficiently declareth, when he wisheth him to 
read his Letters §to the flourishing Clergy : which there did pre- 
side, or rule with him : The presence of the Clergy being thought 
to bee so requisite in matters of Episcopall audience, that in the 
fourth Councell of Carthage it was concluded, ||That the Bishop 
might hear no mans cause without the presence of the Clergy : 
and that otherwise the Bishops sentence should be void, unlesse it 
were confirmed by the presence of the Clergy : which we find 
also to be inserted into the Canons of IFEgbert, who was Arch- 
Bishop of York in the Saxon times, and afterwards into the body 
of the Cannon Law it self.** 

True it is, that in our Church this kinde of Presbyterial Gov- 
ernment hath been long disused, yet seeing it still professeth 
that every Pastor hath a right to rule the Church (from whence 
the name of Rector also was given at first unto him) and to ad- 
minister the Discipline of Christ, as well as to dispense the Doc- 



* Nee de aliorum manibus quam prresidentium sumimus. Id. de corona 
militis, cap. 3. 

■f- Dandi quidem Baptism! habet jus summus sacerdos ; qui est Episcopus ; 
dehinc Presbyteri Diaconi. Id. de Bapt. cap. 17. 

X Omni actu ad me perlato placuit contrahi Presbyterium, Cornel, apud Cyp. 
epist. 46. 

§ Florentissimo illic clero tecum pr^sidenti. Cyprian, epist. 55, ad Cornel. 

I Vt Episcopus nuUius causam audiet absque ptKsentia Clericorum suorum, 
alioquin irrita erit sentcntia Episcopi nisi Clericorum prassentia confirmetur. 
Concil. Carthag. iv., cap. 23. 

T[ Excerption. Egberti, c. 43. ** 15. q. 7. cap. Nullus. 



ARCHBISHOP USSHER'S REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, xxi 

trine and Sacraments, and the restraint of the exercise of that 
right proceedeth onely from the custome now received in this 
Realm ; no man can doubt, but by another Law of the Land, this 
hinderance may be well removed. And how easily this ancient 
form of Government by the united suffrages of the Clergy might 
be revived again, and with what little shew of alteration the 
Synodical conventions of the Pastors of every Parish might be 
accorded with the Presidency of the Bishops of each Diocese 
and Province, the indifferent Reader may quickly perceive by 
the perusal of the ensuing Propositions. 

L In every Parish the Rector, or Incumbent Pastor, together 
with the Church-Wardens and Sides-men, may every week take 
notice of such as live scandalously in that Congregation, who are 
to receive such several admonitions and reproofs, as the quality 
of their offense shall deserve ; And if by this means they cannot 
be reclaimed, they may be presented to the next monethly Synod ; 
and in the mean time debarred by the Pastor from accesse unto 
the Lords Table. 

II. Whereas by a Statute in the six and twentieth year of King 
Henry the eighth (revived in the first year of Queen Elizabeth) 
Suffragans are appointed to be erected in 26. several places of 
this Kingdom ; the number of them might very well be con- 
formed unto the number of the several Rural Deanries, into 
which every Diocese is subdivided ; which being done, the Suf- 
fragan supplying the place of those, who in the ancient Church 
were called Chorepiscopi, might every moneth assemble a Synod 
of all the Rectors, or Incumbent Pastors within the Precinct, and 
according to the major part of their voyces, conclude all mat- 
ters that shall be brought into debate before them. 

To this Synod the Rector and Church-wardens might present 
such impenitent persons, as by admonitions and suspension from 
the Sacrament would not be reformed ; who if they should still 
remain contumacious and incorrigible, the sentence of Excommu- 
nication might be decreed against them by the Synod, and ac- 
cordingly be executed in the Parish where they lived. Hitherto 
also all things that concerned the Parochial Ministers might be 
referred, whether they did touch their Doctrine, or their conver- 
sation as also the censure of all new Opinions, Heresies, and 
Schismes, which did arise within that Circuit ; with liberty of 
Appeal, if need so require, unto the Diocesan Synod. 

III. The Diocesan Synod might be held, once, or twice in the 



Xxii APPENDIX. 

year, as it should be thought most convenient ; Therein all the 
Suffragans, and the rest of the Rectors, or Incumbent Pastors 
(or a certain select number of every Deanry) v/ithin the Diocese 
might meet, with whose consent, or the major part of them, all 
things might be concluded by the Bishop, or ^Superintendent 
(call him whether you will) or in his absence, by one of the Suf- 
fragans ; whom he shall depute in his stead to be Moderator of 
that Assembly. 

Here all matters of greater moment might be taken into con- 
sideration, and the Orders of the monthly Synodes revised, and 
(if need be) reformed ; and if here also any matter of difficulty 
could not receive a full determination : it might be referred to 
the next Provincial, or National Synod. 

IV. The Provincial Synod might consist of all the Bishops and 
Suffragans, and such other of the Clergy as should be elected 
out of every Diocese within the Province, the Arch-Bishop of 
either Province, might be the Moderator of this meeting, (or in 
his room some one of the Bishops appointed by him) and all 
matters be ordered therein by common consent as in the former 
Assemblies. 

This Synod might be held every third year, and if the Parlia- 
ment do then sit (according to the Act of a Triennial Parliament) 
both the Arch-Bishops and Provincial Synods of the Land might 
joyn together, and make up a National Councel : wherein all 
appeals from inferiour Synods might be received, all their Acts 
examined, and all Ecclesiastical Constitutions which concerne 
the state of the Church of the whole Nation established. 

We are of the judgement That the form of Government here 
proposed is not in any point repugnant to the Scripture ; and 
that the Suffragans mentioned in the second Proposition, may 
lawfully use the power both of Jurisdiction and Ordination, 
according to the Word of God, and the practice of the ancient 
Church. 

Ja. Armagh anus. 
Rich. Holdsworth. 



* 'EiTiGKOTiOvvreg, id est, superintendentes ; unde et nomen Episcopi tractum 
est, Hieron, epist. 86, ad Evagrium. 



PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. xxiii 

III. 

PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND IN THE I/TH CENTUS.Y. 

There was no inconsiderable amount of Presbyterian ism in the 
New England churches in the middle of the 17th century. Henry 
M. Dexter {Congregationalism, p. 431) truly says : 

" Thomas Parker and James Noyes— /^?r nobile fratricm — who 
came over in 1634, and became Pastor and Teacher of the church 
in Newbury, were strongly inclined toward some of the views 
afterward held by the majority of the Westminster Assembly, 
and they did not hesitate to teach them. Difficulties arose, in 
consequence, in their own church, which, after years of inhar- 
mony, compelled the calling of council after council, and the 
interference of the civil authorities, before peace could be ob- 
tained. By the summer of 1643, when the Assembly was com- 
mencing its long session, there were other Elders in the Colony 
whose views inclined in the same direction, and another Synod was 
called to consider the subject. Winthrop's account of it is this : 

" ' There was an assembly at Cambridge of all the elders in the 
country (about 50 in all), such of the ruling elders as would were 
present also, but none else. They sat in the college, and had 
their diet there after the manner of scholars common, but some- 
what better, yet so ordered as it came not to above sixpence the 
meal for a person. Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker were chosen 
moderators. The principal occasion was because some of the 
elders went about to set up some things according to the pres- 
bytery, as of Newbury, etc. The assembly concluded against 
some parts of the presbyterial way, and the Newbury ministers 
took time to consider the arguments, etc' 

" What, after further consideration, the Newbury ministers 
thought of ' the arguments,' we are assisted to know by the 
treatise published by one of them four years later in London, 
entitled. The Temple Measured, etc. The friend who intro- 
duced this to the public, says Mr. Noyes, had ' drawn up and 
published these short notes,' for the reason that he found him- 
self still unsatisfied 'upon conference had ' with 'the Reverend 
Presbyters of that countrey.' Mr. Noyes's idea of the church of 
the Gospel, was of one which is to kept in good order by the 
power of the Presbytery within, and of Synods and Councils 
without." 



Xxiv APPENDIX. 

The following letter of Mr. Parker presents his position : 

The True copy of a letter written by Mr. Thomas Parker, a learned 
and godly minister, in New England, unto a member of the 
Assembly of Divines now at Westminster, Declaring his judg- 
ment touching the government practised in the churches of 
New England. London, 1644. 

Loving Brother :— My eyes do yet serve mee, though with 
much difficulty; and therefore I will spend some part of their 
last strength in writing a word or two unto you. I desire to 
mourn with you, for the sore afflictions of the church, and for 
those in particular which you have suffered, and my poore sister, 
and mother, with you. I hope the Lord doth beare up your 
hearts by faith and patience, and that you do rejoyce under hope 
of the glory that shall follow. He that shall come will come, 
according to promise. I presume you are in the number of those, 
which are gathered into a Synod now at London ; and therefore 
I write unto you as being there. 

I suppose you are so prepared and qualified by these present 
afflictions, beside all your learning and sufflciency of parts, that 
God will discover great things by you. I assure you wee have 
great need of help in the way of discipline, and wee hope that 
wee shall receive much light from you. My cousin Noyse and 
myself, have seen such confusion of necessity depending on the 
government which hath been practised by us here, that wee have 
been forced much to search into it within these two or three 
yeeres. And although wee hold a fundamental! power of gov- 
ernment in the people, in respect of election of ministers, and 
of some acts in cases extraordinary, as in the want of ministers : 
yet v/ee judge, upon mature deliberation, that the ordinary exer- 
cise of government must be so in the Presb5^ters, as not to de- 
pend upon the expresse votes and suffrages of the people. There 
hath been a Convent, or meeting, of the ministers of these parts, 
about this question, at Cambridge, in the Bay ; and there wee 
have proposed our arguments, and answered theirs ; and the)- 
proposed theirs, and answered ours : and so the point is left to 
consideration. Also concerning admission of members, wee hold, 
the rule must bee so large, that the weakest Christians may bee 
received ; and there was, according to appearance, much con- 
junction in this particular : Pray for us, as wee do for you. 

From Newbury, in New England, December 17, 1643. 
Your brother, true and faithful! in the Lord, 

Thomas Parker. 



PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. xxv 

A still later opinion is presented by James Noyes in his Moses 
and Aaron, London, 1661 : 

" The militant Church of Christ, is one integral body visibly 
indued by Christ with Church power. The Apostles were Cath- 
olick members, not members of one particular Church more than 
another. And there is a Catholick Church power to make Cath- 
olick members " (p. 2). "Members'* of the Catholick Church, 
have immediate right to Church ordinances as occasion requires 
in opposition to necessary dependance on particular Churches 
for membership " (p. 19). "Election by common members, is 
not essentiall to the constitution of Elders " (p. 32). " In that 
I have formally supposed popular election so much necessary, 
and imposition of hands for little necessity, I now humbly 
impute it to my weaknesse in Judgement, as well as to my 
education, amongst such as were for the congregational way " 
(P' 3^)- " It is unlawful for common members to ordain elders " 
(p. 38). " Common members may not govern by suffrage to- 
gether with their elders " (p. 42). " Elders are sent by Christ 
to preach the Gospel in way of office " (p. 56). " All elders are 
sent in way of office to preach to all the world as occasion serves " 
(p. 58). "All Elders are Elders to all Churches as occasion 
serves " (p. 59). " Some Elders may have superiority of jurisdic- 
tion over other Elders, according to Christ's institution " (p. 62). 
" For as much as the difference was not between Elders in power 
of order, but only in degree of Jurisdiction, it may be fully sup- 
posed to distinguish them, by calling the chief the Bishop, with- 
out any precise title of a different nature" (p. 67). "Ecclesias- 
tical history is a sufficient witness of the practice, or de facto, and 
apostolical practice is a sufficient rule de jure. It seemes he that 
was called Antistes prcepositus, the Bishop in a Presbytery, by 
process of time was only called Bishop, though all Elders are also 
according to their office essentially Bishops, and differing only 
in gradual jurisdiction, inulta renascuntur quce nwic cecidere, 
cadentque, God's power is glorified in reparations, etc., as well as 
in preparations '' (p. 68). 

The views of John Eliot are given in his privately printed 
Communion of Churches : or the Divine Manage7ne?it of Gospel 
Churches by the Ordinance of Councils, Constituted in Order accord- 
ing to the Scriptures. As Also, The Way of bri?tging all Christian 
Parishes to be particular Reforjnifig Congregationall Churches : 
Humbly proposed, as a way which hath so much light from the 



Xxvi APPENDIX. 

Scriptures of Truth, as that it 7nay lawfully be submitted unto by 
all ; and niay, by the blessing of the Lord, be a means of Uniting 
those two Holy and Eminent Parties, the Presbyterian and Congre- 
gational. As Also to Prepare for the hoped-for Resurrection of 
the Churche ; and to prepare a way to bring all Christian nations 
into an unity of the Truth and order of the Gospel. Written by 
John Eliot, Teacher of Roxbury in N.E. Cambridge 1665. There 
are but two copies of this book known to exist ; one of them is 
in the Lenox Library, N. Y. City. Through the kindness of Geo. 
H. Moore, LL.D., we have been permitted to make the following 
extracts : 

"Christ, who hath all power, Matth. xxviii. 20, hath derived all 
Ecclesiastical Power first unto the Apostles, that they by Institu- 
tion might distribute the same unto several officers in the 
Church. Hence, as all Church-Officers, especially Elders, and 
more especially Teaching Elders, are ordinary successors of the 
Apostles, in their several branches of Church-power: So Coun- 
cils of Churches are their eminent ordinary successors, in point of 
Counsel, and that in several respects " (p. 4.) " The Power of 
Ecclesiastical Councils is only Dogmatical or Doctrinal : Power 
of Ceitsure is by the Lord fixed in the Church ; and hence, when 
any appeal unto Council, it is for further and more clear light 
from the Scripture, and for conviction thereb}^ but not for the 
exercise of any Juridical Power " (p. 5). 

L " When Twelve churches or any number under Twenty-four 
shall agree to hold communion in a Council for mutual Help, 
and shall send forth messengers, at least two from every Church, 
and they of both orders of Elders, or in defect of Ruliitg Elders, 
Brethren eminent in Piety and Wisdome, who are as elders, to 
manage the Ordinance of Counsel in the behalf, and for the ben- 
efit of all the Churches herein combined : These do constitute 
the^/frj-/ order of a compleat Council ; the first Ascent of the glo- 
rious temple ; the first Row in compacting the 7icw Jerusalem. It is 
both needful and attainable, that these Councils should meet at 
least once every moneth." 

II. " When Twelve of \S\^ first Order of Councils, or any number 
under Twenty-four, shall, v/ith the express consent of all their 
particular Churches, agree to hold Communion in a Council for 
Mutual Help, and for the benefit of all the Churches combined; 
and to that end, shall send forth from among themselves, at least 
one principal and eminent Teachiiig Elder and one Ruling Elder, 



PKESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. xxvii 

to manage the Ordinance of Counsel, in a Provincial Synod, in 
the behall and for the benefit of all the Churches herein com- 
bined : These do constitute the secojtd order of Councils 

It is both needful] and attainable, that these should meet quai- 
terly." 

III. "When Twelve Provincial Councils, or any other number 
under Twenty four, with the explicite consent of the first 
Councils, and with the explicite consent of the Churches, 
who are in this Combination, agree to hold Communion in a 
Council for Mutual Help ; and to that end, shall send forth from 
among themselves at least one principal Teaching Elder and one 
Ruling Elder, both eminent in holiness, wisdome, and all fitting 
abilities, to manage the Ordinance of Counsel in a National 
S}'7iod, in the behalf, and for the benefit of all the Provinces, first 
Councils, and particular Churches herein combined : These do 

constitute a Third order of Councils It will be both 

needful and attainable, that these should meet once in a year." 

V. " When Twelve National Councils, or any number under 
Twenty four, shall agree, with the explicite consent of all the 
Churches, passing and arising through all the Orders of Coimcils, 
to hold Communion in Councils for Mutual Help ; and to that 
end shall send forth, at least one Teaching and one Ruling Elder, 
men eminent in Holiness and Abilities for so high a service, to 
constitute an CEcimienical Council, and there to manage the Ordi- 
nance of Counsel, on the behalf, and for the benefit of all the 
Churches and Coimcils herein combined : These do constitute 
a F'ourth Order of Councils. They are an CEcumenical Council ; 
and represent all the Churches in those nations before the Lord." 
fpp. 14-16). 

Thus Eliot magnifies the Presbyterian organization of the 
Church from the congregational eldership to the oecumenical 
Council. He differs from Westminster Presbyterianism chiefly 
in denying that the higher Presbyteries have "juridical power " 
over the lower. 

Thomas Hooker, in his Survey of the Summe of Church-Dis- 
cipline, London, 1648, presents his points of agreement with Sam- 
uel Rutherford, thus : 

" I do freely acknowledge to have received light therefrom : so 
I do professe I do readily consent with him in many things. In 
the number and nature of Officers, as Pastours, Teachers, Elders, 
etc. appointed by Christ in his church. That the people hath 



XXviii APPENDIX. 

right to call their own officers, and that none must be imposed 
upon them by Patrons and Prelates. That Scandalous persons 
are not fit to be members of a visible Church, nor should be ad- 
mitted. That the faithfull Congregations in England are true 
Churches : and therefore it is sinful! to separate from them as 
no Churches. That the members which come commended from 
such Churches to ours here, so that it doth appear to the judge- 
ment of the Church, whence they come, that they are by them 
approved, and not scandalous, they ought to be received to 
Church communion with us, as members of other Churches with 
us in N. E. in like case so commended and approved. To sepa- 
rate from Congregations for want of some Ordinances : or. To 
separate from the true worship of God, because of the sin of 
some worshippers, is unlawfull. The Consociation of Churches 
is not only lawfull, but in some cases necessary. That when 
causes are difficult, and particular Churches want light and help, 
they should crave the Assistance of such a consociation. That 
Churches so meeting have right to counsell, rebuke, etc. as the 
case doth require. In case any particular Church shall walk per- 
tinaciously, either in the profession of errour, or sinfull practice, 
and will not hear their counsell, they may and should renounce 
the right hand of fellowship with them. That Infants of visible 
Churches, born of wicked parents, being members of the Church, 
ought to be baptized. In these and severall other particulars, we 
fully accord with M. R." 

Hooker then presents the distinguishing features of the New 
England churches : 

" Visible Saints are the only true and meet matter, whereof a 
visible Church should be gathered, and confoederation is the 
form. The Church as Totum essenfzale, is, and may be, before 
Officers. There is no Presbyteriall Church (i. e. A Church made 
up of the Elders of many Congregations appointed Classickwise, 
to rule all those Congregations) in the N. T. A Church Congre- 
gational! is the first subject of the keys. Each Congregation 
compleatly constituted of all Officers, hath sufficient power in 
her self, to exercise the power of the keyes, and all Church dis- 
cipline, in all the censures thereof. Ordination is not before 
election. There ought to be no ordination of a Minister at large, 
Namely, such as should make him Pastour without a People. 
The election of the people hath an instrumentall causall vertue 
under Christ, to give an outward call unto an Officer. Ordination 



PRESBYTERIA.NISM IN NEW ENGLAND. xxix 

is only a solemn installing of an Officer into the Office, unto 
which he was formerly called. Children of such, who are mem- 
bers of Congregations, ought only to be baptized. The consent 
of the people gives a causall vertue to the compleating of the 
sentence of excommunication. Whilst the Church remains a 
true Church of Christ, it doth not loose this power, nor can it 
lawfully be taken away. Consociation of Churches should be 
used, as occasion doth require. Such consociations and Synods 
have allowance to counsell and admonish other Churches, 
as the case may require. And if they grow obstinate in 
errour or sinfuU miscarriages they should renounce the right 
hand of fellowship with them. But they have no power to ex- 
communicate. Nor do their constitutions binde foriJialiter and 
jurzdice. In all these I have leave to professe the joint judgement 
of all the Elders upon the river : of New-haven, Guilford, Mil- 
ford, Stratford, Fairfield : and of most of the Elders of the 
Churches in the Bay, to whom I did send in particular, and did 
receive approbation from them, under their hands : of the rest 
(to whom I could not send) I cannot so affirm ; but this I can 
say, That at a common meeting, I was desired by them all, to 
publish what now I do." 



IV. 

JOHN ELIOT'S DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND IN 1650. 

In May, 1884, I was making researches for the present volume 
in the Hunterian Museum of the University of Glasgow, when 
my attention was called by the curator, Professor John Young, 
M.D., to a number of uncatalogued books and pamphlets. 
Among the pamphlets he showed me a few manuscripts. Among 
these I found the letter of Eliot which is now for the first time 
given to the public. Prof. Young kindly gave me permission to 
use it, and Mr. John Young, B.Sc, one of the assistant librarians, 
carefully copied it for me. The letter is without date, signature, 
or address. It seems to have been copied from an original, 
which has thus far escaped the attention of explorers, if indeed 
it is now in existence. A cursory examination disclosed its 
value, but not its authorship. A careful examination by the prin- 



XXX APPENDIX. 

ciples of the Higher Criticism discloses its author and date. The 
value of the letter is very great, not only for the general survey of 
New England, at the time, but for the fresh information it gives 
with reference to certain towns, churches, and ministers, which 
were wrapt in uncertainty and obscurity as to their origin and 
actual condition at the time when this letter was written, in the 
spring of 1650. 

The date of the letter may be approximately fixed by the fol- 
lowing evidences : (i) In speaking of Roxbury it says : "Where 
Master Dudly, now Governor liveth Master Eliot is teacher, and 
Master Danfurth (by the good hand of the Lord upon us) is to 
be ordained pastor." Governor John Winthrop died March 26, 

1649, and was succeeded by John Endicott May 2, 1649, and 
he by Thomas Dudley May 22, 1650. Samuel Danfurth was 
ordained September 24, 1650. This gives us the date within 
a few months. (2) In speaking of Cambridge it says : " Blessed 
Master Sheppard there pastor did lately dye, and they have 
not yet any other ordained, but Master Michell is elected their 
pastor, and shortly to be ordained." Thomas Sheppard died 
Aug. 25, 1649, and Jonathan Mitchell was ordained Aug. 21, 

1650. This narrows the date to an interval of less than three 
months. (3) In speaking of Boston, it represents that "the min- 
isters are Master Cotton teacher, and Master Wilson, is pastor." 
It knows nothing of the second church of Boston, which was or- 
ganized June 5, 1650. (4) Mr. Blinman was pastor at Glouces- 
ter, Mass., when the letter was written. Mr. Blinman was at 
Gloucester in September, 1649, and at New London, Connecticut, 
in November, 1650. (5) Mr. Whitefield was at Guilford, Con- 
necticut, when the letter was written. Mr. Whitefield "removed 
to England in 1650. (6) Speaking of Weathersfield, Connecticut, 
it represents that the pastor, Master Smith, had lately died. 
" And they have called Mr. Russel an hopeful branch brought up 
in our college." Mr, Smith died in 1648, and Mr. Russel was 
installed in 1650. 

From these evidences it is clear that the letter could not have 
been written earlier than May 22, 1650, or later than June 5, 
1650. It seems most reasonable to place the date in the last 
week of May, 1650. 

There are several traces of the author : (i) The author repre- 
sents himself as sitting in his study at Roxbury. He was asso- 
ciated with Mr. Hooke, of New Haven, in some general work of 



JOHN ELIOT'S DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND. xxxi 

the Church, and they were to "communicate counsells." He 
speaks of Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Wilson, of Boston, as more con- 
venient for him to counsel with. The author was thus an emi- 
nent minister residing at Roxbury in 1649. He can be no 
other than John Eliot, the apostle of the Indians. And it is 
probable that he was to advise with others with reference to the 
work among the Indians under the Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel in New England, just organized in England. (2) He 
says that " Master Danfurth (by the good hand of the Lord upon 
us) is to be ordained pastor " at Roxbury. Danforth cannot be.the 
writer. He was a young man whom Eliot anxiously expected to 
relieve him so that he could devote more time to labor among the 
Indians. He considered it as the good work of the Lord's hand 
that Danforth was soon to be ordained pastor. (3) The interest 
of the author in the Indians is clear from the following extracts : 
" Southwest from Dedham, seven miles is Natick, an Indian town, 
by the blessing of God now beginning " and " Martins Vineyard 
the island where Mr. Mahu is pastor and preacheth to the In- 
dians which live in that island." (4) Speaking of Providence, 
he says: "Which town Mr. Williams first began, but there also 
they affect to have no minister, but is also a receptacle of many 
varietyes of opinions, Mr Williams spending his life in trucking 
with the Indians." This is a fine piece of irony, on the part of 
the apostle to the Indians, with reference to the heresiarch, Rog- 
er Williams. 

These evidences seem to show with sufficient plainness that 
John Eliot was the author of the letter. 

There are doubtless other facts mentioned in the letter which 
will serve to make the date still more definite. These we shall 
leave to the specialists in the History of New England. We also 
leave to such scholars the historical gain from the statements 
made in the letter. 

According to your desire heere is a breife topographicall de- 
scription of the Seuerall Townes in new England with the names 
of our magistrats and Ministers : 

The Massachusetts Bay is deepe and large, about : 13 : myles 
from the Southend to the northend, bespoted with many Hands, 
more then : 20, The channell at which all shipps (vsually) enter 
is allmost at the Southend, and at the uery enterance is a little 
Towne begun lately : named Hull, where there is yet noe min- 



XXxii APPENDIX. 

ister, within this Bay are many Townes, At the Southend is 
Hingham, where Master Itbbard is minister, Next Weymouth, 
where master Thatcher is minister. One the westside of this 
Bay are these Townes, Brantree to the Southermost, where mas- 
ter Thomson is pastor, master Flint teacher, Then Dorchester 
where mather is Teacher, and master wilson (the sonne of master 
wilson of Boston) is pastor. The next is Roxbury, where master 
dudly, now Gouernor. liueth, Master Elot is Teacher, and master 
Daufurth (by the good hand of the lord upon us) is to be ordained 
Pastor, In the bottome, or northend of this Bay is Boston our 
cheife hauen, where most shipps that come to this country, ride 
at anchor, the magistrats who Hue there are master Belli ngham 
and master Hibbens, the ministers are Master Cotton Teacher, 
And master Wilson is Pastor. On the same northend of the Bay, 
On the other side a water as broad as the thames at London, Is 
charlstowne, the next hauen-towne to Boston, and ye riuer be- 
twixt these Townes, is the most frequent anchoring of Shipps, 
Master Nowell magistrate liueth there, And master Symes is 
Pastor, Master Allen Teacher, By charlsriuer west from Boston 
and charlstowne, about .3. or. 4. myle is Cambridge, where is 
seated Haruard colledge, master Dunster President, Blessed mas- 
ter Sheppard there pastor did lately dye, and they haue not yet 
any other ordained, but master Michell is elected there Pastor, 
and shortly to be ordained a little by the same riuer is water- 
towne where Master knovvles is Pastor and Master Sharman 
Teacher ; ten myles in land to the west and norwest from them 
lye . 2 . Townes on a riuer. which runeth North and South, Con- 
cord the most northerly where Master Flint magistrate liueth, 
and master Bulkley is Pastor. By streame southward lyeth Sud- 
bury Where Mr. Browne is Pastor, West from Sudbury . 16 . 
myles lyeth nashaway, in land who want a Minister, And South- 
west in land from Roxbury lyeth Dedham, where Mr Allen is 
Pastor, South west from Dedham, 7 . myles is Natick a Indian 
Towne, by the blessing of God now begining. And upon a more 
Southene lyne . 8 . myles from Dedham is begining a new Plan- 
tation, called faire-meade, North-ward from charlstowne, 7 myles 
in land lyeth Woobourne, where Mr Carter is Pastor. 

Againe north-northeast from charlstowne . 3 . myles lyeth Mai- 
den, who yet haue not a minister, setled. And . 4 . myles further 
on the same poynt lyeth Reading, where Mr Hoph is Pastor, — 
Northeast from charlstowne about . 7 . Myles lyeth lynn. which is 



JOHN ELIOT'S DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND. xxxiii 

upon the Sea cost within the Bay, there the great Iron workes 
are, Mr Bridges Magistrate liueth there, and Mr Whiting is Pas- 
tor, Mr Cobbett Teacher. Nor North-east from them .4. Myles 
is Marblehead, a good fishing place, Mr Walton is Minister, A 
myle North from them layeth Sale, a uery Good harbour, Mr 
Endicot Deputy Gouernor liueth there, Mr Norice is Pastor, Six. 
myles Northward from them lyeth Wenham, Mr Fiske Pastor, 
Againe . 6 . myles Northeast from Sale, is a litle fishing Towne 
called Manchester where they want a Minister, And there a 
poynt runeth out eastward into the sea called Cape-ann, neere 
to the head whereof is a fishing towne called Gloster, Mr Blin- 
mar is Pastor, On the Northside of that head land cometh forth 
the broad mouth of mirimack. On which riuer are Sundry townes 
the riuer runeth East and West, Next the mouth of that riuer 
lyeth Ipswich, which is . 6 . myles North from Wenham, Mr Sym- 
ons Magistrate there liueth, Mr Nathaneel Rogers is Pastor, Mr 
Norton Teacher, . 3 . myles west of them lyeth Rowly, Where Mr 
Ezekiell Rogers is Pastor, from Rowley westward 114. myles 
layeth Andeuer. where Mr Dane is Pastor, againe .4. myles Nor 
West from Rowley layeth newbery where Mr Parker is Pastor, 
and Mr Noyce Teacher, thence crossing the Broad mouth of 
Mirimacke which (as I Remember may be . 3 . times as broad as 
the thams at London) there lyeth Salsbury, Mr Wooster Pastor, 
about . 5 . or . 6 . myles up the northside the great riuer lyeth 
Hauerill (neere . ouer . against Andeuer) there Mr Ward is Pas- 
tor, about 7 myles from Salsbery Northward lyeth Hampton, 
where Mr Dalton and Mr Wheeleright are ministers, About . 4. or 
. 5 . myles futher north is Exeter, " Where they want a minister," 
and that is at the head of Pascataway riuer, at the mouth where- 
of lyeth Douer where Mr Wiggen A magestrate liueth and Mr 
Mand is Pastor. Some more places to the north are Inhab- 
ited, but they belong not to the Massachusetts lurisdiction, nor 
doe I know them, Soe as to be able to name them, And these are 
the people under the Massachusetts Gouerment north and South, 
On the South, Plimouth pattent Bordereth with us. And there 
first towne lyeth Southeast :io: myles from Hingham, called 
Situate lying on the Sea, Mr Cancy is Pastor, And .4. myles 
Southward lyeth Marshfeild, Mr Bulkly is Pastor, 4 or . 5 . myles 
Southward layeth Duxbury, Mr Partridge Pastor, about . 7 . myles 
Southward, lyeth Plimouth, Mr Rayner Pastor, And the Gouer- 
nour Mr Bradford liueth, I name none other of there magistrats 



xxxiv^ APPENDIX. 

Because I know not well where they Dwell, nor all there names ; 
From Pli mouth Southeast or more easterly putteth forth a uery 
long poynt of land into the Sea, the head whereof is called Cape- 
cod, which with cape-ann make the great Bay of New England 
alongst that necke of land are Seuerall Townes : Eastward . 27 . 
myles from Plimouth is Sandwich, Mr Leueredge is Pastor ; East- 
ward 14. myles is Bastable, Mr Lothrop Pastor, Eastward . 4 . 
myles is Yarmouth Mr Miller Pastor, Eastward : 1 1 : myles Nauset 
is, Mr Mayo Pastor. On the Southside of this Necke of land 
ouer against Bastable or Sandwich, lyeth Martins Vinyard the 
Hand where Mr Mahu is Pastor, and Preacheth to the Indians 
which Hue in that Hand all that coast Southward is full of Hands, 
the most northerly part whereof is called the Marraganset Bay, 
where westward from Martins Vinyard Some leauges layeth 
Road Hand where they haue . 2 . Townes but noe Church nor 
Minister, nor doe they desire any that I heare of; Ouer against 
the north end of that Hand a pritty faire riuer emptieth it selfe in 
the sea upon which riuer about : 20 : myles is Taunton, about 
30: miles west from Plymouth and about as much South from 
Boston, there Mr. Streete is Teacher, and Mr Hooke was Pastor, 
but is remooued to new hauen, more Southerly. Some leagues 
westward of that riuer, another such like riuer emptieth it selfe, 
neere the mouth where of lyeth Prouidence, which Towne Mr 
Williams first began, but there also they affect to haue no min- 
ister, but is also A receptacle of many varietyes of opinions, Mr 
Williams spending his life in trucking with the Indians, About 
.4. myles by that riuer is a town called Rehoboth, where Mr 
Newman is Pastor, .iLud this layeth westward. From Taunton 
ouerland about : 14: myles A great way Southward Upon that 
coast, I cannot say how many leagues (it maybe 20) openeth the 
mouth of Pequot riuer, which is an Excellent harbour, and there 
Mr lohn Winthrop. with others haue a towne begun, but yet 
want a minister, A few myles Southward openeth the great mouth 
of Conecticot riuer, at the mouth where of is a fort, and a church 
gathered this yeere, and Mr Fitch is Pastor the riuer runeth 
Northwest and Southeast, neere . 40 . myles up the riuer is a 
towne begun at a place called Mattabesett, but they haue noe 
minister : 12 : myles higher is weathersfeild where Master Smith 
there Pastor lately dyed. And they haue called Mr Russell an 
hopefull Branch brought up in our CoUedge (as Sundry others 
fornamed haue beene) 3 myles up the riuer is Hartford, where 



JOHN ELIOT'S DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLAND. XXXV 

Mr Hooker latly dyed, An1 Mr Stone is Pastor, Vp a riuer 8 
myles is a villedge where Mr Newton is Pastor 6 . myles up the 
riuer lyeth Winsor, where Mr Wareham is Pastor, 20. myles up 
the riuer layeth Springfeild where Mr Moxon is Pastor, And this 
towne ouerland from the Bay layeth : 80 : or : 90 : myles South- 
west, and is the roade way to all the townes upon this riuer, and 
lye more Southward, This is all that is yet Possessed on that 
riuer, — Then along the South coast from the mouth of Conecti- 
cot .18. myles layeth Gilford where Mr Whitefield is Pastor, 
and Mr Higgenson Teacher, Southward the same coast : 7 : myles 
lyeth Totocot, where Mr Peirson is Pastor, Southward . 7 . myles 
lyeth Newhauen, where Mr Dauernport is Pastor, and Mr Hooke 
Teacher, and this towne ouerland from the Townes on Conecti- 
cot is betwixt : 30 : & : 40 : myles, So that the sea coast lyeth not 
due South but inclineth to the west. Onward the same Southerly 
coast, 8 . myles lyeth Milford where Mr Prudden is Pastor, fur- 
ther more . 4 . myles layeth stradford where Mr Blackman is 
Pastor, futher : 8 : myles lyeth fairefeild where Mr Jones is Pastor, 
further on the same Coast . 28 : myles lyeth Stamford where Mr 
Bishop is Pastor 13 : myles Southward is a towne begining called 
Greenwich, westward : 7 : myles in land from Stanford is an other 
Towne begining. Not many leagues Southward is Hudsons riuer, 
where the Duch line. All along this coast betwixt them and the 
maine sea stretcheth a uery long Hand, So called for the length, 
on which are seuerall townes which I know not ; the Southend 
whereof the Dutch challeng, this Hand, is about : 100 : myles 
long ; in the northerly end of this Hand lyeth Easthamton, Mr 
lames is minister. The next towne Southwest : 20 : myles lyeth 
Southhamton, Mr Fordam, Minister. Southwest : 10 : myles lyeth 
Southhold Mr Yong Pastor, about . 50 : myles to the South-west- 
end : is Hempsted, where Mr Moore Preacheth ; a litle neerer 
the duch liueth the lady Moody an anabaptist & neere to that in 
the straight betwixt long Hand & the maine called Hellgate, 
neere which Place Ms Hutchinson lined and was slaine by the 
Indians. 

— Thus worthy Sr haue you according to your request, a breife 
Description of New England, So well As I could sitting in my 
studdy, proiect it (neuer hauing scene manye Partyes of it) with 
the names of most of the townes, And Ministers therein, and 
by this you see at what a distance Mr Hooke at Newhauen and I 
at Roxbury Hue and cannot communicate counsells, but I haue 



Xxxvi APPENDIX. 

wrot unto him and I doubt not but he will chuse Mr Cotton and 
Mr Wilson of Boston, to whom I am next neightbour, and we do 
weeke])'- communicate counsells, You see also where Mr Ware- 
ham liueth, on Conecticot, But who euer would send any thing 
to any Towne in New England, the best way is to send it to 
Boston or Charlstowne for they are hauen Townes for all New 
England and Speedy meanes of conueyance to all places is there 
to bee had. 



V. 



THE NEW ENGLAND COMPANY. 



I am indebted to the clerk of the New England Company, 
W. M. Venning, D.C.L., of London, for his kindness and courtesy 
in giving me valuable information with reference to this ven- 
erable Company, and also to the Governor and members of 
the Company for their kind response to inquiries, in the sum- 
mer of 1884, in London : 

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New Eng- 
land was the earliest of the Missionary Societies in Great Britain, 
in modern times. It was founded in 1649, by ordinance of the 
Long Parliament as a perpetual corporation called, " The Presi- 
dent and Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New Eng- 
land." It was authorized to receive and dispose of monies in 
such manner as " shall best and principally conduce to the preach- 
ing and propagating the Gospel among the natives, and for the 
maintenance of schools and nurseries of learning for the educa- 
tion of the children of the natives." A general collection was 
appointed by Parliament to be made in all the counties, cities, 
towms, and parishes of England and Wales, "for a charitable con- 
tribution to be as the foundation of so pious and great an under- 
taking." This collection amounted to nearly ;^i 2,000. It was 
invested in landed property at Eriswell, in Suffolk, and in a farm 
at Plumstead, in Kent, as well as in several houses in London. 
The property in Suffolk consisted of 7,000 acres. We have been 
informed, on the highest authority, that it was sold a few years 
ago to an East Indian prince for ;!^i 20,000 for a hunting park. 
This and the other investments of the Society have made it a 
very wealthy corporation. Its name has been changed to " The 



THE NEW ENGLAND COMPANY. XXXvii 

New England Company," and it is probably the richest mission- 
ary society in the world. 

The movement which resulted in the organization of the So- 
ciety was brought about by two influences, the one in Old Eng- 
land, the other in New England. The Puritans were urged 
to do something to Christianize the native American Indians so 
soon as they were brought in contact with them. In 1641, Will- 
iam Castel presented a petition to Parliament "for the propa- 
gating of the Gospel in America and the West Indies, and for the 
settling of our plantations there." This was approved by the 
signature of seventy distinguished Puritan divines of England, 
and Alexander Henderson, and other worthies of Scotland. It 
was therefore a general missionary movement on the part of the 
Puritans. It was still further advanced by the marvellous zeal of 
John Eliot, the apostle of the Red men. The first account of 
Eliot's work was published in London, in 1643, "New England's 
First Frtiits" and immediately attracted great attention. In 
1646 Eliot began preaching to the Indians in their own tongue, 
and was very much encouraged. The results were reported to 
London in a series of tracts : " The Day breaking if not the sun 
rising of the Gospel with the Indiaiis in New England" London, 
1647; " The clear sunshine of the Gospel breaking forth upon the 
Indians of New England,'' 1648 ; " The glorious progress of the 
Gospel amongst the IndiaJis in New England," 1649. 

In 1648 the General Court of Massachusetts passed an act for 
the encouragement of the work, and Eliot received financial aid 
from England. This was the immediate occasion of the organi- 
zation of the first Missionary Society of Great Britain. 

The corporation consisted of 16 persons. They at once ap- 
pointed Commissioners in New England to look after their inter- 
ests there. The work was conducted with great interest and 
enthusiasm during the Commonwealth period, and a series of 
tracts, reporting progress, were published in London : " The light 
appearing more atid inore toward the perfect day," etc., 165 1 ; 
''Strength out of weakness," 1652; " Tears of Repentance," 1653 ; 
" A late and further manifestation of the progress of the Gospel 
amongst the Indians in New Eiigland," 1655 ; '' A further account 
of the progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New England," 
1659; "^ further accotmt," etc., 1660. These tracts were pub- 
lished by the Society. 

The Society was deprived of its charter at the restoration, and 



XXXviii APPENDIX. 

Eliot fell into disfavor, but through the influence of Robert 
Boyle, Richard Baxter, and Henry Ashurst, its treasurer, a new 
charter was granted Feb, 7, 1661(2). The members of the Com- 
pany were forty-five in number, including churchmen and dissent- 
ers. Lord Chancellor Clarendon and other noblemen were on 
the list. Robert Boyle was made the first governor. And many 
distinguished dissenters were associated with him. The charter 
was enlarged, and the Company was constituted " a Society or 
Company for Propagation of the Gospel in New England, and 
the parts adjacent in America." 

" For promoting and propagating of the Gospel of Christ unto 
and amongst the heathen natives in or near New England, and 
parts adjacent in America ; and also for nourishing, teaching, 
and instructing the said heathen natives and their children, not 
only in the principles and knowledge of the true religion, and in 
morality, and the knowledge of the English tongue, and in other 
liberal arts and sciences, but for the educating and placing of 
them or their children in some trade, ministry, or lawful call- 
ing." 

Robert Boyle took a great interest in the Society. He gave 
them ;/^3oo, and afterward in his will left them ;^ioo, and recom- 
mended his executors, that after all debts and legacies were paid, 
to use the greater portion of the balance " for the advancement 
of the Christian religion amongst Infidels." Commissioners in 
America were again appointed, including Increase Mather and 
Cotton Mather, and Eliot was aided in bringing out his transla- 
tion of the Bible and other Indian books. The New Testament 
was printed in 1661, the Old Testament in 1663. He also trans- 
lated Baxter's " Call to the Unconverted," 1664 ; Bayley's " Prac- 
tice of Piety," 1665. He also published an Indian Grammar in 
1666, Indian Primer in 1669, Indian Dialogue 1671, Logick Primer 
1672; Harmony of the Gospels, 1678. An Indza7t Covenanting 
Co?ife3Sion (without date), composed and published by Eliot, on 
a broad sheet was recently discovered in the Library of the Uni- 
versity of Edinburgh by the librarian, John Small, M.A., and 
republished in Edinburgh, 1880. He also wrote the eleventh and 
last tract of New England, Indian Series, in 1671. ''A brief nar- 
rative of the progress of the Gospel a7no7igst the Indians in New 
England in the year 1670." Eliot resigned his charge at Roxbury 
in 1688, and died in 1690. Besides the work carried on by Eliot 
at Natick, the Society supported Thomas Mayhew's work at 



THE NEW ENGLAND COMPANY. xxxix 

Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, etc. A succession of Mayhews 
continued in the work of the Society for over 150 years. They 
also supported Mr. Bourne, John Cotton, and Mr, Hawley, in 
their work at Mashpee, 50 miles from Boston. 

A considerable number of Indian churches were organized, and 
a native ministry established. A letter from New England in 
1689 reports six churches of baptized Indians, 18 assemblies of 
catechumens, and 24 preachers. Ruling elders were associated 
with the ministers in conducting discipline. The ministers were 
ordained by Eliot and Cotton, by laying on of the hands and 
prayer after fasting. 

The work of the Society was carried on in New England until 
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. The funds were then 
allowed to accumulate until 1786, when work was begun in 
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. These funds had been consider- 
ably enlarged by the legacy of Dr. Daniel Williams, the eminent 
Presbyterian divine of London, who died January 26, 1715(6). 
The three funds, e.^^., the charter fund, the Boyle fund, and the 
Williams fund, were carefully invested, and their appropriation 
regulated by three decrees of chancery in 1836. The clause "ad- 
jacent parts " in the charter enabled them to abandon New Eng- 
land, and carry on the work in Canada. 

Several grants have been made in the West Indies and else- 
where — but the work of the Society has been chiefly in Canada. 

Their stations are as follows : 

J. Near the Grand River, on the Reserve of the Six Nations : 
(i) Mohawk station, where there is a church, parsonage, and an 
educational institution for 45 children. (2) Tuscarora station, 
with a church and parsonage. (3) Kanyeageh station, with 
church and parsonage. (4) Cayuga station, with church and 
parsonage. II. On Rice and Chemung Lakes, with a church at 
Chemung, and parsonage and school-house. III. In British Co- 
lumbia. The work was begun here in 1870. There is a mission- 
house and a farm on Kuper Island, about five miles from Van- 
couver Island. These missions are now prosecuted by the New 
England Company, with the income of the immense endowments 
of the three original trust funds. So far as we can learn, the 
Society makes no appeals for contributions for the work they 
have in hand ; but limit themselves to a wise management of the 
trust committed to them. (See Sketch of the Origin and Rece7it 
History of the New England Company. By the Senior Member 
of the Company, London, 1884.) 



Xl APPENDIX. 

VI. 

ORDER FOR THE REINSTATEMENT OF THOMAS HARRISON. 

To the Governor of Virginia. 
Sir: 

We are informed by the petition of some of the people of the 
congregation of Nansemond in Virginia that they had long en- 
joyed the benefit of the ministry of Mr Harrison who is an able 
man and of unblamable conversation who hath been banished 
by you for no other cause but for that he would not conform 
himself to the use of the Common prayer book. Wee know you 
cannot be ignorant that the use of the Common prayer book is 
prohibited by the Pari, of England And therefore you are hereby 
required to permit the same Mr Harrison to return to his said 
congregation to the exercise of his ministry there unless there 
be such sufficient cause as shall be approved of the Pari, or this 
council when the same shall be represented unto us. Of your 
compliance herein we expect to receive an account from yourself 
of the first opportunity. Whitehall Oct ii. 1649. 

(^Letter Book Council of State. Rolls Office. Domestic Interreg- 
num No. 115, pp. 482-3.) 



vn. 

MATTHEW hill's CERTIFICATE OF ORDINATION. 

" For as much as the Lord Jesus Christ, the great apostle of 
our profession, has judged it meet that there should be a succes- 
sion of pastors and teachers, in his church, even unto the end of 
the world, for the edifying of his body, until it come unto a per- 
fect man, unto the measure of the stature of his fulness ; and 
hath deputed the care of the continuation of this ministerial 
office, unto such as have been already called thereunto, requiring 
them to commit the things they have received unto faithful 
men, who shall be able to teach others also : We the ministers 
of Christ, who are called to watch over part of his flock in the 
city of York, with the assistance of some others, that we might 
not be wanting to the service of the church in this its necessity, 
having received credible testimony under the hands of divers 
ministers of the gospel and others, of the sober, righteous and 



MATTHEW HILL'S LETTER TO RICHARD BAXTER. xli 

godly conversation of Matthew Hill M. A. and preacher of 
the gospel at Helaugh, as also, concerning his gifts for the min- 
istry, have proceeded to make further tryal of his fitness for so 
great a work ; and being in some good measure satisfied con- 
cerning his piety and ability, have upon the 23rd day of June. A D. 
1652 proceeded solemnly to set him the said Matthew Hill apart 
unto the office of a Presbyter and work of the ministry, by laying 
on our hands with fasting and prayer : By the vertue whereof 
we do esteem and declare him a lawful minister of Christ, and 
hereby recommend him to the church of Christ and more especi- 
ally unto the people of Helaugh aforesaid, that they would receive 
him as a minister of the gospel, loving, honouring, and obeying 
him in the Lord In witness whereof we have hereunto set our 
hands, this 24 day of June 1654 Nathaniel Jackson, Edward 
Bowles, Thomas Calvert." (Calamy, Accoutit of the Ministers, 
Lecturers, Masters and Fetlows of colleges and school?7tasters who 
were ejected or silenced after the Restoration in 1660. London, 
1713; 2d edition, vol. II., p. 832.) 



VIIL 

MATTHEW hill's LETTER TO RICHARD BAXTER, 1 669. 

Maryland, Charles Count v, 
April 3, 1669. 
For the Rev. Mr. 
Richard Baxter at 
his home in Acton near London. 
Honered Sir 

I should not have made so bold with your precious time 
designed for better uses than the perusal of so mean a paper as 
this, but that I could not furnish myself with any other means 
of testifying the due thankfulness that I bear within my breast 
for your singular kindness and consideration to one of my mean- 
ness. I cannot but acknowledge that your bounty found me 
under a great deal of misery as well as meanness and hath been 
instrumental in putting of me into a capacity of living comfortably 
and as I hope serviceably too : the Lord I hope will place it to 
your account- I am sure that the blessing of him that was ready 
to perish doth reach you though at this distance, what you have 
lost in your purse I hope you will regain in a better place. Sir I 



xlii APPENDIX. 

am afraid to trouble you with any discourse concerning myself. 
Only I cannot but judge it my duty to be accountable for what I 
either am or have to sue from whom I have received the means 
of my new life and livelihood and particularly to yourself. Di- 
vine goodness hath been pleased to land my foot upon a province 
of Virginia called Mar}dand which is a province distinct from the 
government of Virginia, of which the Lord Baltimore is propri- 
etor and governor. Under his lordships government we enjoy 
a great deal of liberty and particularly in matters of religion. 
We have many that give obedience to the church of Rome who 
have their public liberty, our governor being of that persuasion ; 
We have many also of the reformed religion who have a long 
while lived as sheep without a shepherd though last year brought 
in a young man from Ireland who hath already had good success 
in his work. Divine providence hath also cast my lot amongst a 
loving and a willing people and we enjoy our public opportunity 
with a great deal of freedom, that which, as I hope, will make 
my work the more successful, is, the people are not at all fond of 
the liturgy or ceremonies. In so much as I have not yet heard 
any one with whom I have to do, to speak a word for them. 
The people called Quakers have gained a great many proselytes 
in this place, but their doctrine or devise rather hath lately de- 
cayed, very much of itself and is' now quite dead and buried. 
Their very liberty hath been their ruin. We have room for 
more ministers, though their encouragement as I judge cannot 
be altogether as great as ours who are already settled ; because 
we are where the people and the plantations are the thickest. 
It is judged b}' some that are acquainted with the state of the 
people better than myself that two or three itinerary preachers 
that have no dependence upon the people for maintenance would 
be eminently instrumental among them, though the people 
themselves, if I mistake not, are naturally of free dispositions 
and kind to their ministers and would take off that charge from 
such as should be willing to undergo it in a ver}- short time. 
How many young men are there in England that want wages and 
work too. We cannot but judge it their duty to come over and 
help us. Sir I hope your own inclination will be advocate 
enough to plead the cause of this poor people and engage you to 
improve your interest on our behalf with some of our brethren 
in the work of the Lord. As to myself I have not yet done 
begging. My books when I was in England were too few to buy 



MATTHEW HILL'S LETTER TO RICHARD BAXTER, xliii 

me food ; and as we have not the opportunity, so I cannot but 
acknowledge I have not the ability as yet of purchasing such 
books as are useful and necessary for my work. I humbly beg 
of you that you will please to supply me with a few of such as 
you judge meet for my use ; and if that be any argument, I dare 
plead that after this time, I hope I have done begging. The 
young gentleman, the bearer hereof, is also to give you a full 
account of our country and the state of our affairs, whom I have 
engaged to wait upon you with this, and to attend your com- 
mands if you shall be pleased to honour me with what returns 
you shall think fit to give to my request. He is kinsman to Dr. 
Whitchcote and of the same name. 1 was much beholden to 
Mr. Davy and his good lady for their bounty towards me at my 
coming from England, which I could not but make mention of, 
because your letter to them and interest in them, was so success- 
ful an advocate for me to my no small advantage. I may justly 
say, I came with my staff only over the great waters ; and now 
the Lord hath blessed me with more than my heart durst wish, 
for which, as I desire to bless the Lord first, so I cannot but 
acknowledge my humble and hearty thankfulness to your 
self as mainly instrumental in my present liberty and liveli- 
hood. So I humbly entreat your favorable interpretation of this 
my freedom, which I assure you my present necessity enforces 
me to. My hopes of outward maintenance, or of being able to 
purchase any thing that I want of myself not being likely to be 
accomplished until our harvest for tobacco which is the only 
current money of our province. I hope your goodness will give 
your poor orator the freedom of begging from you the favour to 
represent my condition to some of your brethren or friends to 
whom God hath given ability and hearts to help those that stand 
in need of their help. I dare give you no further trouble, only 
by acknowledging myself honored Sir 

Your humble servant and unworthy fellow laborer in the work 
of the gospel Matthew Hill. 

The above letter was discovered by the author in the summer 
of 1884, in Dr. Williams' Library, London, among the MS. Cor- 
respondence of Richard Baxter. 



xliv APPENDIX. 

IX. 

THE EARLY LIFE AND TRAINING OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE. 

Francis Makemie was born near Ramelton, Ireland. He is 
enrolled as a student at the University of Glasgow, in the third 
class, Feb., 1675(6). 

The Minutes of the Presbytery of Laggan, Ireland (in the 
McGee College, Londonderry,) have the following records : 
" May 20, 1680, the meeting appoint Mr Robert Campbell and 
William Liston to speak to Mr Fran, is McKemy and !vlr Alex. 
Marshall and to enquire about their studies and to encourage 
them in these and make report to the meeting. July 7, 1680 
Mr Francis McKemy and ]Mr Alex. Marshall are recommended 
to the brethren that are to be at Raigg communion, to speak to 
them about their studies and knowledge in divinity and also 
these brethren are to call them to an account for afterwards from 
time to time, till they be satisfied and clear to present the busi- 
ness to the meeting. Aug. 11, 1680, ;Mr John Hoart and Robt 
Campbell are appointed to take some inspection of Mr Alex. Mar- 
shalls studies and Mr Thomas Drummond and William Liston 
to do the like to Mr. Francis McKemy. Sept. 29, 1680, Mr Will- 
iam Liston reports that Mr Francis Mackemy desires some more 
time and that he is diligent. Dec. 29, 1680, Mr John Hoart, R° 
Campbell and Wm Liston are appointed to meet together and to 
try and examine the progress of Mess. Alex. Marshall & Francis 
MacKemy in their studies, and if they find them fit to be pre- 
sented to the meeting for trials, that then they desire the young 
men to be at the next meeting. Feb. 2, 1680 (i) the young men 
Mess. Francis MacKemy and Alex Marshall have not yet been 
tried by Mess. Hoart, Campbell and Liston : that business is still 
left upon them. Mch. 9, 1680 (i) Upon the good report we get of 
Mrs. Francis MacKemy and Mr Alexander Marshall, the meeting 
think fit to put them upon trials in order to their being licenti- 
ated to preach and they name I. Tim. I. 5, to Mr Mackemy. April 
20, 1681 Francis Mackemy delivered his homily upon I. Tim. I. 5, 
and was approved. Matth xi. 28 w^as appointed to him for the 
next meeting and a common place de Antichristo. May 25, 1681, 
Mr Francis Mackem> delivered his private homily on Matth. xi. 
28, and was approved." The last entry in the book prior to the 
blank is July 31, 1681 : "The meeting see fit to lay aside their 
ordinary business at this extraoi Jinary meeting, only we will, if 



LETTERS OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE. ^Iv 

time permit, hear the exegeses of the two young men who 
are upon their trials." The blank continues until Dec. 30, 
1690. During this interval, probably in the autumn of 1681, 
Makemie was licensed. He preached for Mr. Hempton, 
in Burt, Ireland, April 2, 1682. After appropriate trials, in 1682 
he was ordained to go out to America. It is probable that he 
was inclined thereunto by William Traill, who was moderator of 
the last meeting of the Presbytery, July 21, 1681, and who was its 
most influential member, and who went thither himself. Make- 
mie himself gives an account of his ordination in his Answer to 
Keith's Libel against a Catechism published by Francis Makemie, 
Boston, 1694, p. 24: "Ere I received the imposition of hands in 
that scriptural and orderly separation unto my holy and minis- 
terial calling, that I gave requiring satisfaction to godly, learned 
and judicious discerning men, of a work of grace and conversion 
wrought in my heart at fifteen years of age, by and from the 
pains of a godly schoolmaster, who used no small diligence in 
gaining tender souls to Gods service and fear." 



X. 

LETTERS OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE. 

There are six letters of Francis Makemie, which are known to 
us. The first of these was written from the Elizabeth River, Vir- 
ginia, July 22, 1684, to Increase Mather. This is preserved in 
the Mather Papers, V. 70, in Boston Public Library. The second 
is also from the Elizabeth River, July 28, 1685, to Increase 
Mather. It is preserved in the Prince Collection, 1686-1720, p. 
57, in the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. These are 
both given by Webster (in /. c, pp. 297-8), but so inaccurately 
that I have secured fresh copies. The third is the long letter 
from the Barbadoes, Dec. 28, 1696, printed at Edinburgh, under 
the title Truths in a True Light, etc. The only copy known is 
in the Library of Harvard College. The Librarian has kindly 
furnished us with a transcript, but it is too long for us to pub- 
lish here. The fourth letter is from Barbadoes, Jan. 17, 1697(8), 
and the fifth from the same place, Feb. 12, 1697(8), both to 
Increase Mather. These I have copied from transcripts in pos- 
session of Dr. George H. Moore, Superintendent of the Lenox 
Library, N. Y. These are from Vol. LVIL, p. 61, of the Massa- 
chusetts Archives. The sixth letter, the most important of all, is 



xlvi APPENDIX. 

from Philadelphia, March 28, 1707, to Benjamin Colman. It was 
published by E. D. Neil, in his Terra Marzce, pp. 195-6 ; then in 
the Peimsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, V., p. 228. 
The precious original is in the possession of D. McN. Stauffer, of 
New York, who, with singular kindness and courtesy, has granted 
me the privilege of copying the original. 

Elizabeth R. Virginia 22 July —84 
R. & d. B. 

I wrote to you tho unacquaint, by Mr. Lamb from North Caro- 
lina, of my designe for Ashly [R. So]uth Carolina, which I was 
soe forward in accomplishing th[at I enjgaged in a voyage, and 
went to sea in the moneth of May bu[t god] in his providence- 
saw it fitt that I should nott see it, att this time ; for wee were 
beate upon the coast by contrary winds, and to the North as far 
as Delaware bay, for five weeks together, soe that falling short 
in our provisions were necessitated, after severall essayes to the 
South, to Virginia, and in the meane while, Collonell Anthony 
Lawson, and other inhabitants of the Parish of Linhaven, in 
lower Norfolk County, who had a dissenting Minister formerly 
from Ireland untill the Lord was pleased to remove him by death, 
in August last, among whom I preached, before I went to the 
South, in coming from Maryland, against their earnest importu- 
nity, coming soe pertinently to the place of our landing for water, 
renuing their suits, prevailed with me to stay this season, which 
the more easily overcame me, considering the season of the 
yeare, and the litle encouragment I found for Carolina from 
the sure information I have had. But for the satisfaction of my 
friends in Ireland, whom I designe to be very nice in inviting to 
any place of America I have yet seen, I have sent one of our 
number to acquaint me further concerning the place. I am here 
assured of liberty, and other encouragments, resolving to sub- 
mitt to the soveraigne providence of gd who has been pleased 
very unexpectedly to drive me back to this poor desolate people, 
among whom I desire to continue untill god in his providence 
determine otherwise concerning me. I have presumed a second 
before I can heare how acceptable my first has been. I hope 
this will prevent your writting to Ashly R. and determine your 
resolution in directing 3^our letters to Coll. Anthony Lawson, att 
the Eastern branch of Elizabeth R. I expect if you have an 
oppurtunity of writting to Mr. John Hart, you will acquaint him 



LETTERS OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE. xlvli 

concerning [m]e ; which with your prayers, and advice will 
oblidge him who is your deare, and affectionate brother in [the] 
gospell of our Lord Jesus. ffrancis Makemie. 

The bearer Mr Wilson will be a safe bearer. 

To The reverend Mr Increase Mather Minister of the Gospell att 
Bostone n. England, These 

(2). 

Eliza. R., 28 July, 1685. 
Honoured Sir: — 

Yours I received by Mr. Hallet with three books, and am not 
a little concerned that those now sent to Ashley R were miscar- 
ried, for which, I hope it will give no offence, to declare my wil- 
lingness to satisfy ; for there is no reason they should be lost to 
you, and far less that the gift should be reiterated for which I 
am oblidged to own myself your debtor. And assure yourself if 
you have any friend in Virginia, to find me ready to receive your 
commands. I have wrote to Mr. Wardrope, and beg you would 
be pleased to order the safe conveyance thereof unto his hands. 
I have likewise wrote a line to one Mr. Thomas Barret, a minis- 
ter who lived in S. Carolina, who, when he wrote to me from 
Ashley R., told me that next week was to take shipping for N. E., 
so that I conclude he is with you. But, if there be no such man 
in the country, let me letter be returned. 

I am yours in the Lord Jesus. 

ffrancis Makemie. 

(3). 

Barb. Jan 17. 169J 
Reverend Sr 

Yours, with your mentioned tokens, p. Capt. White 
I have received, for which I thanke you, and shall not be unmind- 
ful!, of a gratefull return, p. Capt Green, your son in law. 

This comes to inform you of our great and unexpected disap- 
pointment, by your son, Mr Samuel, his not coming to Barbados,- 
after so full purposes and frequent resolutions and wonder at 
your people who return from this Jsland with magnifyed news, of 
our sicknesse, and that of purpose, to discourage any ministers 
coming hither from N : E : which I am constrained to impute to 
nothing else but their unwillingnesse that any of you should 
come hither to behold, and remark, the lives, carriage, and con- 
versation of some new England men. in Barbados, which I am 
informed, are vastly different, from what they appeare in N. 



Xlyiii APPENDIX. 

England : And whatever discouraging reports has been or shall 
be carryed to you, upon this account, I confidently affirm, that 
Barbados does now, and has for severall moneths past enjoyed, 
more peace, plenty, and health, then it enjoyed since our late Revo- 
lution, and I am willing to beleeve that as our visitation by sick- 
nesse came in by the war, so God will remove it by a peace, for 
tho we have of late had, and yet have as great, if not much greater 
concourse of strangers, and sailors on this island, then has been 
formerly observed, and yet very healthy, and no greater mortality, 
then in other healthy places of the world, many instances might 
be given to obviate what you have heard, of not one in three, 
escaping with life, even from many N. E: ships, particularly Capt. 
ffoster lately sailed for London, who had been here, for many 
months, had a considerable number of hands, in a large ship, 
and assured me, he lost not one man by sicknesse, tho many of 
them pressed aboard men of war, which has been the continued 
grave for sailers, who have fallen most by the sicknesse of this 
place. 

If this reach your hands, to undeceive you, and other friends, 
who have disuaded your son froin Baj'bados before he sail for Lon- 
don, I shall be necessitated to leave this people, and many 
strangers, who resort to this Island desolate, being purely con- 
fined these two yeares from going off for my health, for want of 
supply; and as to particular visitations by mortality N. England, 
London, and all other places, as lyable as Barbados. 

Ld. Bellaniotit your Governour, beat of the coast of N. Yorke, and 
arrived at Barbados, and being from Ireland and having knowl- 
edge of some of his relations, and since I was capable of knowing 
anything, heard an honourable character of his father Sr Ch. Coot, 
a zealous Parliainentarian, and a terror to the Irish, I presumed 
to pay my respects to him and was admitted to familiar conver- 
sation ; our President Bond, a lover and admirer of N. Englajid, 
blesses God in your behalf, that he has put it into the heart of 
our king to pitch upon such a man, for N : E and I am really 
persuaded, he is a loyall subject, a true Protestant, and a moder- 
ate man ; and i7i this juncture, a fitter man, of his quality, scarse 
could be had in Ejig land for that Post, excepting the infirmity of 
his body, by the Gout. 

I took the freedome, when alone to assure his Lship if he 
would protect and countenance N. E. in their Religion and Lib- 
erty, he would be happy in that Government, and he assured me 



LETTERS OF FRANCIS MAKEMIE. xlix 

of all moderation on that account. I expect fresh opportunityes 
of further accesse to his L^ship, which I shall endeavor to im- 
prove in favour of N. E : and communicate what occurs to you, 

and present subscribe myself. 

Your assured friend, humble servant, 

tho unworthy 
I was long since Brother 

convinced the Carlysle Dove ffrancis Ma. 

was a cunningly contrived 
cheate. (4). 

Barbados ffeb. 12 i69f 
Reverend Sr 

This comes by Capt Green, to informe you I wrote at 
large, by way of Saltetudos, concerning our disappointment in 
our expectation of your son Mr Samuel, since which time sev- 
erall families of my hearers are resolving off for Europe Sr ac- 
cept a small token of the product of our island, from 
Your humble servant 

and unworthy B | 
I. M. A small barrell 

mixed preserves . | . . 
[Superscribed]. To The Reverend Mr Increase Mather at 
Boston These 
p Capt Green 

Q:D:G: 

(5). 

Philadelphia, March 28, 1707. 
Mr. Benjamin Colman. 

Rd Brother. Since our imprisonment we have commenced a 
correspondence with our R4 Brethren of the Ministry at Boston, 
which we hope, according to our intention, has been communi- 
cated to you all, whose Sympathising concurrence, I cannot doubt 
of, in our expensive Struggle, for asserting our liberty, against 
the powerful invasion of L<i Cornbury, which is not yet over. 

I need not tell you, of a pick^ Jury, and the penall laws are in- 
vading our American Sanctuary, without the least regard to the 
Toleration, which should justly alarm us all. I hope Mr. Camp- 
bell, to whom I direct this for the more safe Conveyance, has 
shown or informed you, what I wrote last. 

We are so far, upon our return home ; tho' I must return for a 
finall Tryall which will be very troublesome and expensive. And 



1 APPENDIX. 

we only had libert}^ to attend a Meeting of Ministers we had 
formerly appointed here ; and were only Seven in number, at 
first, but expect a growing number: Our design is to meet 
yearly, and oftener, if necessary, to consult the most proper 
measures, for advancing religion, and propagating Christianity, 
in our Various Stations, and to mentain Such a Correspondence 
as may conduce to the improvement of our Ministeriall ability 
by prescribing Texts to be preached on by two of our number at 
every meeting, which performance is Subjected to the censure of 
our Brethren ; our Subject is Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, I 
and another began and performed our parts on vs. i, 2, and the 
3 is prescribed to Mr, Andrews and another If any friends write, 
direct to Mr. J^ Bud at Philadelphia, to be directed to me in 
Virginia. Pardon S^ this diversion from 

Your humble Servant, and Brother in the 
Worke of the Gospell, 

ffrancis Makemie. 



XL 

A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF BENJAMIN WOODBRIDGE, WITH HIS 
LETTER FROM PORTSMOUTH, N. H., 1690. 

Benjamin Woodbridge was son of John Woodbridge, pastor of 
Andover, Mass. ; brother of John Woodbridge, pastor of Wethers- 
field, Conn., and of Timothy Woodbridge, pastor of Hartford, 
Conn. He was pastor at Windsor, Conn., from 1 668-1 680, of a 
party who were dissatisfied with. Mr. Chauncy, v.'ho had been 
called by the majority of the church. They were both dismissed 
by order of the court. The two parties then united in one church. 
He is probably the Mr. Woodbridge mentioned in a letter of 
Joshua Moody from Portsmouth, N. H., in 1683. It is probable 
that he supplied that church during the troubles of its pastor with 
the arbitrary authorities. He supplied the church at Bristol from 
1684-86, but the people could not unite upon him. {Collections 
of the Mass. Hist. Sac, IV., Vol. 8, pp. 463, 651-655 ; Contributions 
to the Ecclesiastical History of Comiecticiit, New Haven, 1861, p. 
513.) He was again supply at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1690, and 
from thence writes the following interesting letter, dated April 2, 
1690. This letter I discovered, in the summer of 1884, in the 
Rolls Offi,ce, London : 



LETTER OF BENJAMIN WOODBRIDGE. jj 

Right reverend Father in God 

I presume it hath not been altogether unknown to your Lord- 
ship, how god hath let loose the heathen upon us in these parts 
of the world, which hath been to the destruction of many 
amongst us, and the impoverishing of all. It is an year and 
halft agoe, and somewhat upward since these troubles began 
amongst us, and are now strengthened by the Frenchs joining 
with, supplying and encouraging them ; and they have made a 
desolating incursion and inroad upon us lately; by a mixt com- 
pany of ffrench and Indians ; so that our land and more espe- 
cially these eastern parts of it, are greatly distressed and it may 
be said of us in great measure as of Israel of old, mentioned 
Judg : 6 : 2 : 4 : 6 : Such is your Lordships piety and charity 
that it hath sounded to New England, and the fame thereof come 
to our ears ; which hath emboldened me to present the necessi- 
ties and distresses of this poor Eastern people in New England 
(occasioned by the calamityes of a desolating war), to be consid- 
ered by your Lordships pious charity; not doubting but that 
under your Lordships influence and countenance, many of gods 
people there will have their hearts open, to relieve the extream 
necessities, that many already, and more speedily, are like to be 
under (in that sowing and planting in these parts is like to be 
interrupted). There is doubtless a number with you, that count 
it an advantage and comfort with him of old, to have the bless- 
ing of those that are ready to perish to come upon them ; and 
such are the sufferings of these I beg for, that I may truly say 
their loins will bless their benefactors. There needs, I confesse 
some great apology, that I and I alone, such a stranger, so re- 
mote, so unknown, so inconsiderable, should venture upon such 
a petition to your Lordship ; I would beg that my boldness 
herein, may be vailed with that, that I being neare the seat of 
the present war and calamity, I may have more sense and feeling 
of there sufferings, then others at a greater distance, and that it 
is the cause of Christ in his members that T beseech for. It is 
like New Englands name may sound low, in those parts of the 
Christian world, and I may say deservedly, yet it is a truth that 
God hath his number here, that would do no iniquity. And I 
hope this awful judgment, that they now ly under, wil have 
some influence to work the reformation that we need. 

I had thought to have directed these few lines, or this concerne 
not only to your Lordship but also to the Rev Doctor Burnett 



lli APPENDIX. 

and the Rev Dr Stillingfleet who are noted in these parts of the 
world; but I chuse rather to leave it with your Lordship, not 
doubting ("but if your Lordship favour it) you have instruments 
enough at your command to promote it, so as to attaine its end. 
If it please the most high to incline the hearts of any to pitty 
and relieve a wilderness suffering people so remote ; if it be sent 
over whether in provision or in clothing it may answer the end, 
for some are exposed not only to hunger, but to nakedness : and 
if it could arrive here before winter, it would be the right season, 
and doubly welcome. Ships from England are mostly bound for 
Boston ; but a transport from thence hither is easy. Mr Natha- 
nael Fryar and Mr Robert Eliot of Portsmouth on Piscataqua 
river would be meet and faithful persons to distribute it, to sup- 
ply the necessities of those for whom it is beg'd. Beseeching 
your Lordships favourable and candid acceptance of this request 
for poor suffering ones, I remain 

Your Lordships to be commanded in any service of 
Christ 

Benj: Woodbridge 
From Porthsmouth on 

Piscataqua river 
in New England April 2, 1690. 



XIL 

NINIAN BEAL'S deed OF LAND FOR THE PATUXENT CHURCH. 

Col. Ninian Beal was the venerable elder of the Presbyterian 
Congregation on the Patuxent, overlapping Matthew Hill and 
Nathaniel Taylor, the chief pastors of the Puritan flock on the 
Patuxent from 1668 to 17 10. In November, 1704, Col. Beal deeded 
a plot of ground for the erection of a church. This deed was 
discovered, in the early winter of 1884, at Marlboro, by the Rev. 
J. W. Mcllvaine, of Baltimore, who has kindly given the following- 
copy for publication : 

November Court. 1704 
Ninian Beall ) To all Christian peoples to whom these 
to >■ presents shall come, I, Ninian Beall, of 

Nathan! Taylor ) Prince George's County in the Province of 
Maryland send greeting Know ye that I the said Ninian Beall 
being of a good and perfect mind and without any ffraud or de- 



NINIAN BEAL'S DEED OF LAND. ][[[ 

ceit for divers good causes and considerations me thereunto 
moving but more especially for ye propogation of y^ gospel of 
Christ Jesus have given granted and confirmed and by these 
presents doo ffreely voluntarily and absolutely give grant and 
confirm unto Nathaniell Taylor Minister of ye Gospel and to 
Robert Bradly, James Stoddard, John Battle, Archibold Ed- 
munson, Thomas Beall Senior, Thomas Beall Junior, Ninian Beall 
Junior, Charles Beall, Christopher Thompson, Joshua- Hall, John 
Browne, John Henry, James Beall, Alexander Beall, William 
Ophett, John Soaper, and to their successors for ye erecting and 
building of a House for ye Service of Almighty God, That parcell 
of Land, being a part of a Tract of Land called the meddows lying 
on ye vi^estern Branch of the Patuxant River in Prince George's 
County Beginning (here follows a description of the measurements 
of the tract — so many perches, etc., which are not easy to make out) 
containing half an acre of land be it more or less To Have and to 
Hold ye said land and tenament unto the said Nathan^ Taylor," 
Robert Bradly, James Stoddard, John Battle, Archibold Edmun- 
son, Thomas Beall Senior, Thomas Beall Junior, Ninian Beall 
Junior, Charles Beall, Christopher Thompson, Joshua Hall, John 
Browne, John Henry, James Beall, Alexander Beall, William Oph- 
ett, John Soaper, and to their successors for .... [illegible] their 
own proper use for ye aforesaid use and no other from the day 
of the date to hold for ever peaceably quietly without any man- 
ner of reclaim of me ye Said Ninian Beale and I, ye said 

Ninian Beale have put ye Said Nath^ Taylor, Robert Bradly, James 
Stoddard, John Battle, Archibold Edmunson, Thomas Beall Sen- 
ior, Thomas Beall Junior, Ninian Beall Junior, Charles Beall, 
Christopher Thompson, Joshua Hall, John Browne, John Henry, 
James Beall, Alexander Beall, William Ophett, John Soaper, in to 
peaceable possession by the delivery of a piece of money called 
six pence — — I have paid and delivered unto y^ said Nathaniell 
Taylor in behalf of himself and the rest of the above named per- 
sons this day and date thereof. In witness of which I have here- 
unto set my hand and seals 5^e 20th day of November Anno 1704. 

Ninian Beall 
Signed, sealed and Delivered in the presence of us 

John Wight 

Sami Magruder 
Att a Prince George's County Court called and held ye 23d day 

of November, Anno Dom. 1704 for our Sovereign Lad}^ Ann by 

the grace of God Queen of England &c (the royal titles). 



liy APPENDIX. 



XIII. 

SEPARATION OF THE BAPTISTS FROM THE PRESBYTERIANS IN 
PHILADELPHIA, 1698. 

It seems that for several years, from 1695 to 1698, the Presby- 
terians and Baptists of Philadelphia worshipped together in the 
Barbadoes store, hearing such ministers of either denomination 
as might be at hand, in alternate meetings. Soon after the arrival 
of Jedediah Andrews a misunderstanding arose which brought 
about a separation. 

Morgan Edwards, in his Materials towards a History of the 
Baptists in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1770, pp. 104 seq., gives 
the following account of it : 

" The baptists of Philadelphia did hold their worship at a store 
house on Barbadoes lot whither the few presbyterians, then in 
town, did resort to hear baptist ministers ; and where they were 
received with courtesy & brotherly love for the space of about 
three years. Within that time the latter increased, and had a 
minister of their own, and then soon began to discover an un- 
willingness that baptist ministers should preach in the house any 
longer, though the baptists had a better right to it because of 
prior occupancy ; and further than occupancy neither could lay 
claim thereto, the building being the property of traders who 
had quitted the town. The following papers relate to the affair, 
and may be depended upon, as they are extant in the handwriting 
of Rev. John Watts : 

' Upon the request of some friends about the 2d month, in 
1695, John Watts had consented to preach at Philadelphia every 
other Lord's day, and had so continued to do to this time (1698), 
unless prevented by a hand of providence ; and divers of the 
persons who -came to that assembly were presbyterians in judg- 
ment (they having no minister of their own, and we having 
hitherto made no scruple of holding communion with them in 
the public worship of God and common duties of religion nor of 
admitting their ministers, if at any time they came amongst us, 
to pray and preach in our assemblies). But being now provided 
with a minister from New england there appearing some scruples 
on their side, as not being willing to condescend so far to us as 
to allow our ministers the like liberty. For our better satisfac- 



SEPARATION OF THE BAPTISTS. ly 

tion touching their judgment on this point, and for the preser- 
vation of love and unity we wrote to them as follows : 

' To our dear and well beloved friends and brethren Mr Jede- 
diah Andrews, John Green, Joshuah Story, Samuel Richardson 
and the rest of the presbyterian judgment belonging to the 
meeting in Philadelphia ; the church of Christ, over which John 
Watts is pastor, sends salutation of grace, mercy and peace from 
God our father and from our lord Jesus Christ. Dearly beloved ! 
.... We do freely confess and promise for ourselves that 
we can and do own and allow of your approved ministers who 
are fitly qualified and sound in the faith and of holy lives to 
pray and preach in our assemblies, If you can also freely confess 
and promise for yourselves that you, can and will own and allow 
of our approved ministers, who are fitly qualified and sound in 
the faith and of holy lives to preach and pray in your assemblies : 
that so each side may own, embrace and accept of one another 
as fellow brethren and ministers of Christ, and hold and main- 
tain christian communion and fellowship. 

Signed John Watts, 

Samuel Jones, 
Geo. Eaton, 
Thomas Bibb, 
Thomas Potts, 
30th of 8th month 1698. 

The following letter was written in reply : 

To the church of Christ, over which Mr. John Waits is pastor^ 
we, whose names are under-written, do send salutation in the 
name of our Lord Jesus .•— 
Brethren and Well-beloved : 

Forasmuch as some of you, in the name of the rest, have in a 
friendly manner sent us your desire of uniting and communing 
in the things of God, as far as we agree in judgment, that we 
may lovingly go together heavenward, we do gladly and grate- 
fully receive your proposal, and return you thanks for the same ; 
and bless God who hath put it in your minds to endeavour 
after peace and concord, earnestly desiring that your request 
may have a good effect, which may be for the edification of us 
all, that we may the more freely perform mutual offices of " love 
one towards another " for our furtherance in Christianity, But 
that we may do what we do safely, and for our more effectual 



Xyi APPENDIX. 

carrying on our forementioned desire, we have thought it might 
be profitable for us all, and more conducive to our future love 
and unity, that we might have some friendly conference con- 
cerning those affairs before we give you a direct answer 
to your proposition, which we have confidence you will not 
deny. And in pursuance hereof we do request that some of 
you (who you think best) may meet with us, or some of us, 
at a time and place which you shall appoint, that what we agree 
upon may be done in order. 

Subscribed, in the name of the rest, Philadelphia, Novem- 
ber 3, 1698. 

Jedediah Andrews, 
John Green, Samuel Richards, 

David Giffing, Herbert Corry, 

John Van Lear, Daniel Green. 

The conference was appointed for the 19th of the 9th month, 
at the common meeting house. But by a misunderstanding the 
conference did not meet. The Baptists were'there, but the Pres- 
byterians failed ; and accordingly the Baptists were offended, and 
they subsequently remained apart. Nov. 19, 1698, the Baptists 
write : " Forasmuch as we missed of our expectation of meeting 
and conferring with you after your requesting it ; and consider- 
ing what the desires of divers people are and how they stand 
affected, and that we are not like to receive answer to our 
reasonable proposition, necessity constrains us to meet apart 
from you till such time as we receive an answer and are assured 
that you can own us so as we can do you." 

John Watts, 
Samuel Jones, 
Evan Morgan. 

XIV. 

the LONDON GENERAL FUND OF 1690. 

Through the kindness of the Trustees of the Presbyterian 
Fund of London, and especially of W. D. Jeremy, Esq., the 
esteemed secretary, I am able to give the following account of 
the origin of the Fund, from the original minutes. The Trustees 
of the Congregational Fund also gave me free access to their 
minutes. To these minutes the readers are indebted for many 
important facts recorded in this volume. 



THE LONDON GENERAL FUND OF 1G90. jyii 

The United Body of Presbyterians and Congregationalists, 
July 1st, 1690, established a Fund for the tra.ining of students 
for the ministry, the aid of weak churches, and the extension of 
the gospel. The minutes begin with the following record : 

" When it pleased God to incline the hearts of our rulers to 
permit the religious liberty of dissenters by a law, some persons 
(concerned in this present worke) laid to heart the great dis- 
advantages which the ministry of the gospel was attended with 
in England and Wales, both by the poverty of dissenting minis- 
ters and the inability and backwardness of many places to afford 
them a mere subsistence — they considered also that many of the 
present ministers (wonderfully preserved to this time) are aged, 
and therefore it was necessary to provide for a succession of fitt 
persons to propagate the gospel when others were removed. By 
the importance of these considerations they were led to invite a 
considerable number of ministers in and about the city of London 
to advise of some methods to obviate those difficulties and as far 
as the law allowed to improve this liberty to the best purposes. 
These ministers judging a select number of ministers might best 
contribute to these designs, did choose seven ministers of the 
Presbyterian persuasion and the ministers commonly called 
Congregational, fixed in an equal number to assist in an affair 
thus common to all, who desire the advancement of the interests 
of our blessed Lord. The ministers thus appointed mett to- 
gether and after seeking councell of God and many serious 
thoughts and debates among themselves, att last concluded 

" (i) That some due course should be taken by way of benevo- 
lence to relieve and assist such ministers in more settled worke 
as could not subsist without some addition to what their hearers 
contributed ; (2) That provision might be made for the preach- 
ing of the gospel in some most convenient places where there 
are not as yett any fixed ministers. (3) That what is thus con- 
tributed should be impartially applied according to the indigent 
circumstances and work of every minister. (4) That none might 
be admitted to a share in this supply as ministers but such as 
are devoted to and exercised in the ministry as their fixed and 
only imployment with the approbation of other ministers. 
(5) That some hopeful young men might be incouraged for the 
ministry and the sons of poor dissenting ministers (if equally 
capable) might be preferred to all others. (6) That a number of 
private gentlemen should be desired to concur with the fore 



Iviii APPENDIX. 

appointed ministers in the procuring and disposal of the said 
supply to the above described uses which gentlemen were 
fixed on. 

" By these steps this happy work was begun which tis hoped 
God will soe enlarge the hearts of the well disposed to contribute 
to and attend with such a blessing as may greatly advance the 
kingdom of Christ, and give posterity occasion to adore the 
goodness of God in thus directing the minds of such as are 
engaged therein." 

The trustees thus selected were : William Bates, Samuel An- 
nesly, John Howe, Vincent Alsop, Daniel Williams, Richard 
Mayo, and Richard Stretton, Presbyterian ministers ; and Mat- 
thew Mead, George Griffith, Nathaniel Mather, George Co- 
kayne, Matthew Barker, John Faldo, and Isaac Chauncy, 
Congregational ministers. 

The next meeting was held July 14, 1690, and the third meet- 
ing Aug. 25, when it was reported that £2,1^,6 12/6 had been sub- 
scribed to the Fund. 

For three years the representatives of the two denominations 
met for the purpose of increasing this fund and appropriating it. 
The minutes are blank for the fourth year. The last record of 
the third year is June 26, 1693. The first record of the fifth year 
is Feb. 5, 1694(5), when the Presbyterians appear alone. There 
were present John How, Daniel Williams, Richard Mayo, Richard 
Stretton, and John Shower. The subscriptions for the year were 
;^996 18/9. This separation in the Fund followed the separation 
from the Union, and the rupture of the Agreement owing to the 
strife over Dr. Williams' book. The minutes of the original 
meetings are in the first volume of the minutes of the Presby- 
terian Fund, which was supposed to be its legitimate successor, 
the Congregational brethren withdrawing. They are in the 
possession of the Clerk of the Presbyterian Fund, W. D, Jeremy, 
Esq., London. 

The Congregationalists organized the Congregational Fund 
Board in 1695. A preliminary meeting called by Matthew Mead, 
Daniel Cole, and Nath. Mather was held Nov. 25. The scheme 
was matured Dec. 30, and a meeting of the messengers of the 
churches was called, and in 1696 the Board was at work, and in 
thirteen months '"the infant Society rendered help to 150 
pastors of churches, itinerants, ministers, getting up and con- 
tinuing several lectures, candidates, and students for the minis- 



THE DUBLIN GENERAL FUND. ^j 

try,' expending in this way ^{^745 19s. out of ;^ 1,073 ^S^^ which 
had been contributed by the associated churches." (See Congre- 
gattjital Fund Board, its History and Rules, London, 1853, and 
also the original minutes in possession of the clerk.) 

The minutes of the Congregational Fund Board continue until 
1703. They are lost from 1704-38. They resume in 1739, and 
continue until the present day. In 1730 the Salters' Hall Fund 
(Presbyterian) was upwards of ;,{[2,ooo ; the Pinners' Hall Fund 
(Congregational), ;!^i,7oo. (See James, Hist, of Litigation, pp. 
698-9.) 



XV. 

THE DUBLIN GENERAL FUND. 

James Armstrong, in his Short Account of the General Fund, 
Dublin, 181 5, gives an interesting account of its origin and his- 
tory, which is based on the Minutes of the Fund now in the pos- 
session of the Trustees in Dublin and other manuscript author- 
ity. I am greatly indebted to the Trustees for the rare privilege 
of consulting the original minutes, the fruits of which appear in 
this volume. Alexander Sinclair, minister of Plunket street, 
Dublin, stated to the Presbytery of Munster, July 15, 1696, ac- 
cording to the Minutes of Presbytery : " That some gentlemen in 
London, and others in Dublin and elsewhere in the kingdom 
had lodged some money in the hands of the Dublin ministers to 
be by them distributed as they saw necessary for the support and 
encouragement of the ministry in the southern parts of this 
kingdom" (p. 3). Lady Loftus, who died in 1702, some years 
before her death gave a deed of trust of ;^5oo to Rev. Thomas 
Emlyn and Joseph Boyse, pastors of Wood St., Dublin, of which 
she was a member (p. 62). May i, 17 10, the General Fund was 
established by a deed of trust, which constituted the ministers of 
the five chapels of the Presbytery of Dublin and two laymen from 
each chapel, trustees. The fund then constituted was £1,^00, 
the gift of Sir Abraham Langford, Joseph Danner, Esq., Dr. 
Daniel Williams, and others. The ;!^5oo given by Lady Loftus 
was transferred to this General Fund. It was increased by ^100 
from Daniel Williams April 17, 171 1, and ;^3,ooo by legacy of 
Sir Abraham Langford, July 25, 17 16, and others, so that January 
1, 1755, the total amount was ^4,870, besides the following special 



Ix APPENDIX. 

funds : (a) ;^i,5od left by Sir Abraham Langford for the support 
of the ministers of Wood st. ; (^) A fund of ;^7oo given, 1725, 
by Mrs. Langford, sister of Sir A. Langford, and member of 
Wood St. ; (c) St. Paul's fund of ^100, given in 1742, for the use 
of the ministers of Carlow and Tankerstown. 

This General Fund has been of immense service to Presbyte- 
rianism in the South of Ireland from the time of its origination 
until the present day. There can be no doubt that Daniel Will- 
iams, one of the original trustees of the London General Fund, 
was largely influential in establishing this Dublin General Fund. 
He had been the leading Presbyterian pastor in Dublin before 
he went to London, and he not only influenced his friends to 
give, but also set them an example in his own liberal gifts. 



XVL 

THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. 

This Society was organized as a voluntary Society about the 
latter end of 1698, with a view of establishing catechetical schools 
for teaching the poor to read, and instructing them in the Church 
Catechism, and also to promote Christian knowledge in the plan- 
tations, by furnishing Bibles, Prayer-books, and religious treatises, 
and erecting Parochial libraries. This Society in part passed 
over into the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts in 1701. But the original members continued as a volun- 
tary Society in accordance with the original design. In 17 10 
they undertook the management of such charities as were or 
should be put into their hands, for the support and enlargement 
of the Protestant mission, then maintained by the King of Den- 
mark at Tranquebar, in the East Indies, for the converoion of 
the heathen in those parts. " They assisted the missionaries there 
with money, a printing press, paper and other necessaries till 1728 
when a proposal made by Rev. Mr. Schultze one of the Danish 
Missionaries to remove to Fort St. George and there begin a new 
Mission, for the Conversion of the heathen at Madras, the Socie- 
ties engaged for the support of that new Mission ; and have ever 
since borne the whole expence of it, which is very considerable ; 
there being now two other Missionaries added to the first, be- 
sides the assistance which they still continue to those at Tran- 
quebar." 



JOSEPH MORGAN'S LETTER OF 1718. Ixi 

In 1720 the Society extended their regard to the Greek church 
in Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt. They pub- 
lished proposals for printing there with a new set of types the 
New Testament, Psalter, Catechism, and an Abridgment of the 
History of the Bible, in Arabic. In 1733 they had published 
6,000 Psalters, and 10,000 Testaments, at an expense of £2,()'j6 1/6 ; 
5,498 Psalters and 2,512 Testaments had also been scattered. 

{Account of the origin and designs of the Society for Promoting 
Christian Knowledge, London, 1733.) 

In 1733-5 the Society sent over to America the exiled Protest- 
ants of Saltzburg, 1 50 in number, with two missionaries and a 
schoolmaster, and settled them at Ebenezer, in Georgia. {Ac- 
count of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 
1740, p. 8.) 

There can be no doubt that this Society did a noble work for 
the American Episcopal Church in the latter part of the 17th 
century and at the beginning of the i8th century. It still con- 
tinues its work from London, its head-quarters. 



XVII. 

JOSEPH MORGAN'S LETTER OF 1718. 

This letter was addressed by Joseph Morgan to the Secretary 
of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts. It is contained in the Letter Book XIII., pp. 441-447 : 

Sr March 23rd Freehold, New Jersey 

I hope I maybe excused (tho' unknown to you) in writing to 
you in a matter which concerns Religion, which by j'-our profes- 
sion to you is most acceptable. 

I am informed that you received a Manuscript from Christian 
(of which I was Scribe) proposing his thoughts of the most ef- 
fectuall way to propogate the Gospel, and I hope yo' have 
received another which the same Auth"" sent you last summer) 
which went by a Ship to Bristol, endeavouring to Reconcile all 
sorts of Christians in point of Doctrine without altering their 
ffaith, so well as to suggest Arguments to convince Infidels even 
the Arguments which were satisfactory to the Author, under the 
m:st frightfull Temptations to Apostacy. 



Ixii APPENDIX. 

The Author is ven- impatient to hear what Entertainment it 
has found, for he seems wholly devoted to Religion and has in 
a manner abandon'd his Countr}- and Livelihood and Kindred, 
yea and his own Children only for the Cause of Religion. — 

I was fearing least your Honoi^l^ Society should fear to take 
notice of it, least the Author might be a Novice and be lifted up 
by it and encouraged to aspire to be the head of a Party to make 
a Schism Therefore I send these and remove that fear if any 
there be. — 

The Author is now^ too old to expect Time enough in the 
World for any great Actions. 2diy he is of such a Tender Con- 
science, and so fearfull of Schism, that he dares not renounce 
such Christians as were of his Communion formerly, but only 
forbears what he judges Erroneous and wishes their Reforma- 
tion, s^iy he fears much to strive in point of Faith with any Man 
that is devout, least he should ignorantly doe harm for he dreads 
the hurting any Plan's Soul, Yet for lustificalion by Christ's 
Righteousness and the necessity of a Holy life, He will dispute 
freely. 4tiiiy he has been a Xtian from his Youth, tho' his terri- 
ble Temptations has been most latterly ; and all the alteration 
he has made from the Christianity he first learned, is only 
the out side part of Religion, It is usually young hott headed 
Men that raise Schisms 5^^^' tho he is one prie's deeply in 
study, Yet he is slowe of apprehension, that he dares not en- 
counter any Man of parts & Learning in a Dispute, where any 
Man can differ soe much from him as to offer a Debate. These 
things considered I think there can in reason be no cause of 
ffear (if he were capable) for in ye Essentialls of Religion he is 
steady allways, and his hands are tyed by these Manuscripts (if 
he were not) and in the outward parts of Religion he is allways 
easy. This is his true Character to which I shall anon Subscribe, 
and if it prove not true, let me be publish'd for a Her, which if I 
had no Conscience nor regard to my Reputation, I would be not 
thought soe for a Thousand pounds ; For I might depend upon 
being turn'd out of the Employ bv which I have my Livelihood 
&c. 

I add I have known the Author and the Family he came of 
above forty years agoe and doe testifie that (for Americans) they 
are a Credible Family and if Common Fame may be credited, 
the Author has never in his life been charg'd with any thing 
Scandalous in his life, or persisted in any thing unbecoming his 



JOSEPH MORGAN'S LETTER OF 1718. l^{[ 

opinion or profession : a thing that can be too seldome said of 
our Americans. 

He always desires to keep himself secret for the reason men- 
tioned in his Dedication, and lastly the meanest of his person 
should cause his work to be the less regarded : and there- 
fores likes as well that it should be new dress'd and come 
out in another Name that need not be hid, if any Man's Name 
in the World can goe free from prejudice of such as like nothing, 
but what comes from such (as like themselves) seek to pull down 
all Xtianity except their own Schism. 

The Author first address'd a number of Minis-ters of his own 
Communion (as they were then) with a Manuscript in their own 
Language, concerning the Need of Prayer for the Success of the 
Gospell &c : having before learned to read the Scriptures in the 
Original Tongues to satisfie himself m the principles of Religion, 
in which he had long found Occasion to be Inquisitive. 

They made light of it saying his Language was too Mean 
&c : and desired that it might be used to suggest to better hand 
to doe it, well they commended his Zeal, but said he and they 
were not capable to be Writers of Books : He insisted upon the 
necessity in this Case : till they told him his hypothesis was not 
true, which last passage allmost broke his heart, and took away 
his sleep, that he went severall Months like one mourning under 
the greatest Bereavements and ready to sink down being griev'd 
that there is no hope of better times at hand : But the very- 
World Apostatizing. So he having not prevail'd with them to 
read his Manuscript halt through never addressed them more, 
nor any Minister of that persuasion, with any such matter 
directly. 

And after some Months heavy Mourning & grieving he con- 
cluded to look another way. And having made some Acquaint- 
ance in the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, he heard 
of your Honourable Society and hoped that by your Title that 
ye are the only Men: being moved with love to you, by your 
very Titles Sake : But he lets no more persons know of his Com- 
posing and sending you these Manuscripts y"^ only some Trustee 
persons to assist him, and some for Advice, and some Zealous 
praying Christians to Assist him in prayer for its success, about 
Six in all and to deal im partially he has chose them from among 
the Church and Presbiterians, Anabaptists and one Quaker, or 
rather Socinian (trusty men) some of them Preachers. The 



Ixiv APPENDIX. 

Quaker a very great Enemy of Predestination and of a piercing 
Apprehension gave his opinion in Writing from under his hand 
Concerning the second Manuscript, that he approved of the first 
& last part of it (which only concern predestination) right well, 
but for the rest of the Book he did not so much admire it : The 
reason I relate this is because some of ye other are as strong Pre- 
destinerians and approve it as well, which is a Circumstance to 
hope that it is a platform (as the Author proposes) to reconcile 
the grievous Contentions, by which the Church is Rent to pieces 
and laid to the Invasion of ye Adversary. 

Last Fall having an Opportunity by Mr Child going from 
hence to live at London : I sent the first rough Draught (in 
English) of both Manuscripts to the Presbiterians. They are 
much short of the other which were much enlarg'd by the Au- 
thors Directions and afterwards mended by many Interlineations. 
For his thoughts are more clear and quick. Those first sent 
last, have allsoe some Patches added which might mend the 
other. I hope the work is printed in its' own form, or else new 
drawn and printed, otherwise I could wish they were both to- 
gether to make one good one. If there be nothing done I know 
not what will become of the Author whose life seems to be 
bound up in the Cause of the Gospel Psalms ye 119, 136 & 158, 
& Psalm 134. 

Sometimes he is reviv'd by reading Psalm the ii^h through 
and sometimes tempted by Discouragements (which break his 
heart) And now Gentlemen if ye desire to know who or what I 
am that give you this Account any Church Minister that has 
been in the parts of New York or New lersey within these ten 
Years can tell 3^ou the Character of 

May it please y Honourable Society 

Your very Humble Servant 

And I hope I may say by the best Relations, 

Yor Unworthy Brother in Christ 

Joseph Morgan. 

XVIII. 

THE PURITAN CHURCHES OF NEW YORK AT THE BEGINNING 
OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

The situation of the Puritan churches of the colony of New 
York at the opening of the i8th century, when they were subject 



THE PURITAN CHURCHES OF NEW YORK. Ixv 

to the inroads of Governor Cornbury and the missionaries of the 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, is 
well set forth in the following extracts from the letters of Gover- 
nor Cornbury and these missionaries : 

(i) An Accoimt of the buildmg of the churches at East and West- 
chester enclosed in Mr. Bartozv^s letter of 14 April, 1714. (Let- 
ter Book S. P. G., IX., p. 226) : 
" May it please the venerable and honorable society for P. G. 
we whose names are subscribed doe hereby certify that the 
church of Westchester was built by a rate layed and levied on 
the inhabitants of the town in proportion to their estates in the 
year of our Lord 1700 and that Mr. Morgan a Presbiterian min- 
ister of East Chester did sometimes come to preach in it until 
such time as Mr Bartow came and took possession of it in the 
year 1702 since which time it has been supplied by him. We also 
testifie that the church of East Chester was built in the year of 
our Lord 1692 by subscription of the inhabitants of the said town 
and that Mr Matthews a Presbiterian minister for about 3 years 
and after him Mr. Morgan a Presbiterian minister did preach till 
such time as Mr Bartow began to preach unto us in the year 1703 
since which time it has been in his possession and he comes and 
preaches at East Chester once in 4 weeks during the winter and 
once in a week during the space of 6 months in the summer And 
we further testify that the town of East Chester was made a dis- 
tinct parish from West Chester in the year 1700. Signed Joseph 
Hunt, Justice & Ch. Ward., West Chester ; Thos Spel, Justice & 
Vestryman, Pelham ; Noah Barton, Justice and Vestryman, Yon- 
kers ; Miles Oakley, Justice & Vestryman, West Chester ; Dan 
Clark clerk D. Com. West Chester ; Israel Honeyman Jun'", Vestry- 
man ; Jno Drake of East Chester, Justice ; Thos Pinenar of East 
Chester, Justice; Jeremiah Fowler, Church Warden of East 
Chester ; Isaac Taylor, Vestryman ; Will™ Pinckney, Vestryman." 

(2) Letter from Mr. Thomas to the Secretary from N. Y. March 
I, 1705: 
" After much toil and fatigue I am (through Gods assistance) 
safely arrived at N, Y. and have been two months settled in 
Hampstead where I meet with civil reception from the people. 
They are generally Independents and Presbiterians and have 
hitherto been supplyed ever since their first settlement with a 



Ixvi APPENDIX. 

dissenting ministry .... The country in general is extreamly 
wedded to a dissenting ministiy and were it not for his Excel- 
lency my Lord Cornbury's most favorable countenance to us, we 
might expect the severest entertainment here that Dissenting 
malice, and the rigour of prejudice could afflict us withall. We 
of the clergy enjoy the influence of his Lordships most favoura- 
ble respect, his Lordships extraordinary respect to his clergy has 
set them above the snarling of the vulgar, and secures to them 
a respect and deference from the best of the people Govern- 
ment is our great asylum and bulwark, which my Lord exerts to 
the utmost, when the necessities and interest of the Church call 
for it. The people of Hampstead are better disposed to peace 
and civility than they are at Jamaica ; yet my Lords countenance, 
next to the Providence of heaven is my chiefest safety." (Letter 
Book IL, Ixxi.) 

(3) Mr, Thomas writes again, June2'j, 1705 (Letter Book IL, xciv.) 

"I am very pleasantly seated here upon a delicate plain 16 
miles long, but the people are all stiff dissenters, not above 3 
church people in the whole parish, all of em the obstinate rebel- 
lious offspring of 4.2. Bro. Urquhart & myself belong to one 
county and the only English ministers upon this island. We 
have two of the most difficult posts upon the .... are the first 
that broke the ice among this sturdy obstinate crew, who en- 
deavour what in them lyes to crush us in the embryo, but (blessed 
be God) by the propitious smiles of heaven and the favourable 
countenance of my Lords government, we keep above water & 
we thank God have added to our church." 

(4) Thomas and Urquhart write a joint letter to the Secretary, 
July d,, 1705. 

" The inhabitants of this county are generally Independents 
and what are not so are either Quakers or of no professed relig- 
ion at all, the generality averse to the discipline of our holy 
mother, the Church of England and enraged to see her ministry 
established among them. The ancient settlers have transplanted 
themselves from N. England and do still keep a close correspond- 
ence, and are buoyed up by schismatical instructions from that 
interest, which occasions all the disturbance and opposition we 
meet with in both our parishes. They have hitherto been used 
to a dissenting minister and they still support one at Jamaica, 



PRESBYTEKIANISM IN SOUTH CAROLINA, Ixvii 

who has a most pestilential influence over our people who from 
their souls were disaffected to conformity." 

(5) Lord Cornbiuy writes to the Secretary from N. V., Sept. 22, 
1705 {Letter Book, II., cxxxi.) 
"The county of Suffolk which is wholly inhabited by English, 
but to this day there has never been a minister of the church of 
England settled in tViose parts. I was there this summer, there 
are several good towns, particularly East Hampton, South Hamp- 
ton, Southold, Brookhaven and Huntington, in each of these 
places there is an Independent minister, who have poisoned the 
minds of the people so far that they generally hate the name of 
the Church of England." 



XIX. 

PRESBYTEKIANISM IN SOUTH CAROLINA AT THE BEGINNING OF 
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

The following extracts illustrate the condition of Presby- 
terianism in South Carolina at the beginning of the eighteenth 
century : 

(i) Nov. 6 and 7, 1704. William Screuen and Archibald Stobo, 
ministers of congregations in Charlestown, sign a document to 
the effect that they had perused a sermon of Edward Marston, 
minister of the Church of England in Charleston ; and Edward 
Marston says, " and I a little favouring the Dissenters, who 
generally are the soberest, most numerous, and richest people of 
this province ; some men that are now in power, have for that 
reason been pleased to bs my enemies." (Letter dated May 3, 
1705.) Both of these documents are contained in Tracts relating 
to South Carolina. B. M., 106 1 g. 49, pp. 56-57. (The title-page is 
gone). 

(2) Letter of Le Jau to Mr. Stubbs from St. James, Goose Creek, 
S. C, April 15, 1707. 

" One Mr. Stobo has printed a covenant subscribed by 46 of 
his Presbyterian meeting, in 1706. I read only the two first and 
two last leaves ; my patience was sufficiently tryed then ; he binds 
them to a Presbyterian congregation for ever in church dis- 



Ixviii APPENDIX. 

cipline, doctrine and government, as set down in the Old Testa- 
ment. That christnings, marriages and burials shall be among 
themselves, that their ministers shall come from Scotland, such 
as he, Mr. Stobo can comply with, that upon Sabbath days they 
shan't go to other places but the meeting or must meet among 
themselves rather than by gadding abroad for strengthening 
others vice and giving offence to one another. The conclusion 
is most horrid ; the 46 men subscribe to those premises as the 
revealed truths of Jesus Christ. I would read no more ; yet I am 
promised one of the printed papers and will send it to you : how- 
ever the subscription was not 12 months old but they turned the 
man out to put in a young man lately come." 

(3) Letter of Mr. Robert Stevens to the Secretary of the S. P. G., 
frojn Goose Creek, S. C, Feb. 3, 1707(8). {Letter Book, IV. 19.) 
He says that "the major part of the inhabitants are dis- 
senters." .... "When I was of the Assembly and Mr. Marshall 
sent by the bishop of London to be minister of Charlestown that 
his maintenance might be paid out of the publick money for I 
considered if we should distrain on the goods of a dissenter to 
maintain our minister it would breed ill blood, this being hap- 
pily concluded, he was settled in quiet and the members of our 
church increased and the dissenters decreased, they having but 
two presbyterian and one anabaptist minister and they ready to 
depart for lack of encouragement ; but those two unfortunate 
acts with the hard usage we afforded our ministers caused them 
to increase so as they sent for two more which are come and 
now there are five and a deacon whose meetings are more 
thronged than ours." 

(4) Richard Marsden writes to the Secretary, Aug. 23, 1708 (IV. 55). 
" There is an island near Charlestown called James island on 

which is about 50 families most of them dissenters, I preached 
there once in two weeks, and was in hopes to have had great suc- 
cess, and did procure by subscription 100^ to build a church on the 
island, but now being removed cannot preach there as did before 
(being at too great a distance) and am afraid that nothing further 
will be done there for some time at least." 

(5) Mr. Win. Dunn writes to the Secretary from Charlestown, Sept, 

20, 1708. (IV., III.) 
He reports that his parish "contains about 150 christian 



PRESBYTERIANISM IN SOUTH CAROLINA. Jxix 

families consisting of more than 300 souls (besides young chil- 
dren), about 80 whereof profess themselves of the Church of 
England, the remaining 220 are dissenters of all sorts ; thus 1 50 
Presbyterians, 8 Independents, 40 Anabaptists, 10 Quakers and 
above 12 others whom I cannot tell what to make of." He also 
reports 24 actual communicants of the Church of England. He 
also reports 1,000 negro and Indian slaves and 400 free natives, 
besides children in his parish. Mr. Dunn was Rector of St. 
Paul's parish, in Colleton county. 

(6) Commissioner Johnston writes to the Secretary of the S. P. G., 
from Charlestown, S. C, July 5, 17 10, a long letter (V. 158). 
" Mr. Taylour is at present the Presbyterian minister in this 
place. He is a person of a very peaceable temper, and greatly 
abhors and disapproves of that restless and factious spirit those 
of his party are possessed with : He greatly condemns two 
country preachers of the same stamp, who on all occasions 
foment and stir up the people to faction and sedition. Their 
names are Mr. Stobo and Mr. Pollock, both of them fierce men 
in their way; and Mr. Taylor says that place can never be easy 
or quiet, where there is a Scotch Presbyterian minister. One of 
them Mr. Pollock in his sermon called the church of England a 
scandalous church ; and Mr. Taylor thinks, and so do I too, that 
the Presbyterian ministers in London ought to be acquainted 
with the behaviour of these men ; and that they do hence- 
forward assert their right of sending English ministers to this 
province, as often as there shall be occasion, it being an English 
colony originally before the Union act, and it being unreason- 
able to subject the Presbyterian interest and cause in this prov- 
ince to the Presbyterian government in Scotland, which is the 
thing the Scotch dissenting ministers here are driving at, with 
all their might and main as is plain by the second proposal or 
request in Mr. Stobo's pamphlet which I send inclosed to you. 
The other two dissenting ministers that are in this province are 
Mr. Lord, a quiet man as I hear and an Independent ; and Mr. 
Scriven an Anabaptist, who is lately removed from this town to 
the Northward and is a ship carpenter by trade. Mr. Taylour 
informs me the Presbyterians about the River Ashley in Mr. 
Wood's parish have sent for a teacher; and Mr. Livingstone who 
was here before Mr. Taylour and is lately gone for Great Britain 
or Ireland will return in a little time, so that we shall have 7 in 



I XX 



APPENDIX. 



all. Mr. Pollock, as I have been credibly informed, has made 
some, that came to hear him, who were formerly pretended 
churchmen, to sign a paper, by which they bound themselves 
never to return to the communion of the church of Enofland." 



XX. 

LETTERS OF JAMES ANDERSON. 

These five letters were discovered by the author, in the summer 
of 1884, in the Wodrow MSS. in the Advocates' Library, Edin- 
burgh. The Librarian, Mr. J. T. Clark, kindly had them 
copied for him by an experienced copyist. They are now pub- 
lished for the first time, and shed a considerable light on the 
early history of the Presbyterian Church in America. We have 
also a copy of a letter of James Anderson of a more private char- 
acter, from the same collection of manuscripts, dated New York, 
October 29, 1725, but it does not contain anything of importance 
for the purposes of our history, and we have concluded not to 
publish it. 

(r.) 

Newcastle upon Delaware Augst 17 16. 
Right Revnd Sr. 

About seven years agoe when T first came into these American 
Regions I remember I did myself ye honour to wait upon yow, 
and was favoured with many very savory and religious advices 
from yow, Some of qch I shall never forget for they've been of 
very great use to me in this remote house of my pilgrimage : 
When I left yow, yow desired me to write & let yow have an 
account of our affairs here ; In qch I acknowledge I've hitherto 
been very defective, not, I am sure, out of any desregard to yow 
but only from a conceit of my own weaknesse insignificancy & 
so unfittnesse to take upon me to write to a person of your 
character & worth ; q^^ barr I've now att last brake through & 
have adventured to trouble yow with these lines, which I know 
will be no trouble to yow, when I consider, that I design to write 
nothing but what has a relation to the interest of our dearest 
Mediator's Kingdom. 

When I came from Scotland, perhaps yow may remember, 
yt I was ordained (worthlesse as I was & yet am) to the Sacred 



LETTERS OF JAMES ANDERSON. Ixxi 

office of y« ministry with a view of coming to Virginia, where I, 
in ye good providence of God, arived; but meeting with unac- 
countable dissapointments there, after half a year stay, I came 
over to these parts, qr^ I understood there were some min" of 
my perswasion, & have ever since remained in this place. In 
this county where I am there are, since I came here, settled, 
three other presbyterian min^s, two of qch are from your city of 
Glasgow. 

There are in all, of min^s, who meet, in a presb)^ry once a year, 
sometimes att Philadelphia, sometimes here att Newcastle, seven- 
teen, & two probationers from y^ north of Irland whom we 
have under tryall for ordination, twelve of qch, I think, have had 
the most & best of their education at your famous University of 
Glasgow ; We are mostly but young raw heads, yet glory to our 
God he magnifies & perfects his strength in our weaknesse, and 
makes it evident yt he can work wonders of grace by poor mean 
& insignificant instruments. As to our proceedings in matters 
of publick worship & discipline, v/e make it our businesse to 
follow ye directory of ye Church of Scotland, qch (as well we 
may) we oun as our moyi" church. We make it our businesse to 
settle & to make settlements, for mine's of our perswasion yt join 
with us, in places where ye Gospell has either never att all been 
preached, or else in places where there are wicked, prophane, 
debauched, carelesse creatures of the bishop of London of qdi 
there has been not a few, & yet are some, within ye bounds of 
these provinces, where some of our brethren meet, which is 
ye reason of our meeting with pritty many hardships & diffi- 
culties both from ye inconveniences of our congregations & 
ye opposition of inveterate enemies. 

In some of our places ye hearers, by reason of their poverty & 
paucity, are scarce att all able, tho' never so willing, to allow a 
competent creditable subsistance for their minrs, which is the 
reason of some contempt amongst some ; which I humbly 
think might be, in some measure, easily remedied by our 
moy ye Church of Scotland and her adherants in Brittain. And 
I doubt not but she readily would use her care & endeavors this 
way, if she were but sensible of the inconveniences yt her poor 
children in this remote corner lye under upon this account. 

I have heard it proposed here, by some who have come from 
your parts & pretend to know ye pulse of some persons of estate, 
especially merch^s this way, yt if any such thing were set about 



Ixxii APPENDIX. 

zealously there might soon be raised as much mony as, if sent 
over to the care & managm^- of our presbytry might be a very 
great help to these places & min^s amongst us which labor under 
the forementioned inconveniencies. I doubt not but one Sab- 
bath day's generall collection for this use with some other help 
we might have from our brethren in old England, would amount 
to as much as if right manag'd would be necessary & as we 
should in haste want, for this purpose ; This would not be much 
felt with yow & would be greatly beneficiall here, and am con- 
fident would, through Gods blissing, have a mighty tendency 
towards the advancement of the Mediators Kingdom in this new 
growing country. 

This Dear Sr I have been bold to propose to yow, knowing 
yow to be a person truly zealous for the promotion of the interest 
of our dearest common Lord, & also by reason of your high char- 
acter & station very capable of doing us & ye interest of Religion 
here, as much service this way, as any other I know. I know it 
will be, or perhaps already it has been, objected that such a thing 
as this would give some reasons of jealousie to the Church of 
England yt yow thereby would incroach too much upon their 
precincts & liberties. But I can't see what ground or reason 
they can have for such a thought. The Church of Scotland is 
established in Great Brittain as well as yt of England, & no 
doubt have liberty of sending forth missionaries (& supplying 
them too) to these places especially within the dominions of 
Great Brittain, where the Church of England is no more estab- 
lished than ye Church of Scotland, which is the case of these 
places I am pleading for ; for in Pensylvania & ye Jersies yre is 
no one church established more than anoy^ & none are oblidged 
to pay or contribute towards ye mantinance of any minr more 
then another but what they please. 

There is one thing more, for the abovs^^ reasons, I would, if I 
might be allowed, also propose to yow ; There are a great many 
young men merch^^ who come from your parts, soberly (I be- 
leive) educated & brought up att home, who, when they arive 
here, are meer rakes, stap or stand att no sin or vice almost that 
fc.lls in their way, swearing whoring Sabbath breaking drunk- 
ennesse are as common vices, with a great many of them, as if 
they tho't there wos no evil in the commission of any of these ; 
and as to their countenance of min^s yt are of ye principles of ye 
church of Scotland, they are so far from yS yt they carry as if 



LETTERS OF JAMES ANDERSON. Ixxiii 

they were ashamed of their moyr Church her principles & wayes, 
whatever is the religion of their poi & lascivious companions yt is 
theirs. So y * really a great many of them (y are some, tho' very 
few, exceptions) are a perfect scandall to all religion & a disgrace 
to yt part of ye world from whence they come, from which other 
& better things has been here expected ; I am sure if ye parents 
& principals of some of y™ knew their carriage & beheavor in 
these parts it would be matter of very great sorrow & greif to 
them. I propose this not out of any disregard I have to y"", I am 
sure it is out of love to their souls. I am glad to see my coun- 
trymen in these parts, neither do I speak so because of any par- 
ticular affront or incivelity received. I never mett with any such, 
from any of them, but on ye contrary, with very much civility & 
respect, But I propose it, yt some method might be fallen upon 
whereby this dreadfuU & offensive greivance might be rectified. 
Query whither or not their parents & imployers could not oblidge 
them to bring certificates of their inafensive beheavor during 
their abode in these parts from ministers here to their oun 
minrs &c. att home, forgive my pralixity &c. : I am R R S^" 
Your truly affectionate Serv* 

Ja: Anderson 
P : S : I beg your prs in publick & private for us in these parts 
& yt yow would write us. 

Addressed " For The Right Rev^d Mr John Stirling Principall 
of the College of Glasgow Scotland " 

(2.) 

Newcastle on Delaware August 8. 17 17. 
Right Revd S^ 

About a year agoe, after some appoUogie for my not 
writing before, I adventured to write to yow concerning some 
things I tho't of considerable concern & moment towards the 
advancement of the interest of the Mediators Kingdom in these 
parts, which I'm affrayed has nat come to your hands. Therein 
I gave yow a small account of my arivall & progresse in this 
American world, of the number of min^s who in these parts meet 
in a presbytry : As to our proceedings in matters of publick wor- 
ship & discipline, (as I then acquainted yow) we make it our 
businesse to follow the directory of our moy ye church of Scot- 
land as near as the circumstances of these parts will allow. We 



Ixxiv APPENDIX. 

settle & make Settlements for min" of our perswasion, in places 
where the Gospell has never att all been preached ; or else where 
there are wicked prophane debauched carelesse creatures of the 
bishop of London, of q^h yre. has been not a few, & yet are some, 
wtin the bounds of these provinces whence some of our brethren 
meet : which is y^ reason of our meeting with pritty many hard- 
ships & difficulties, both from the inconveniencies of our congre- 
gations & the opposition of inveterate enemies. In some of our 
places, the hearers by reason of their poverty and paucity, are 
scarce att all able, tho' never so willing, to allow a competent 
creditable subsistance for their min^s, qch jg the occasion of some 
contempt amongst some, which I, with submission, think might 
be in some measure easily remedied, by our moy The Church of 
Scotland and her adhereants in Great Brittain, & I doubt not but 
she readily would use her care and endeavor this way, if she were 
but sensible of the inconvenience yt her poor children, in this 
remote corner ly under upon this account ; I have heard it pro- 
posed here, by some who have come from your parts, & pretend- 
ed to know the pulse of some persons of estate this way, that if 
any such thing were set about zealously, there might soon be 
raised as much mony, as if sent over to ye care and managm* of 
our presbytr}^ might be a very great help to these places & 
min^s amongst us y^ labour under the formentioned inconveni- 
encies ; I doubt not but one Sabbath days generall collection for 
this use, with some other help we might have from our brethren 
in Old England, would amount to, as much, as, if right managed, 
would be necessary & as we should in haste want, for this 
purpose. This would not be much felt with yow, & would be 
greatly beneficiall & I'm confident would, through Gods blessing, 
mightily tend to ye growth advancemt & encouragmt of religion, 
in these parts. I know it will be, or has been objected, yt such a 
thing as this would give the Established church of England rea- 
son to suspect yt yow thereby would incroach too much upon 
their precincts & liberties, but I can't see qt ground they can 
have for such a thought. The Church of Scotland is established 
in Great Brittain as well as yt of England, & no doubt have lib- 
erty of Sending forth missionaries (& supplying y™ too) to these 
places, especially, within the dominions of Great Brittain, where 
the Church of England is no more established than the Church 
of Scotland qch is the case of these places we are cheifly con- 
cerned in. In Pensylvania & the New Jersies there is no one 



LETTERS OF JAMES ANDERSON. J^XV 

Church established more than another, & none are oblidged to 
pay or contribute towards the mantenance of any mirrister more 
than another, but what he pleases. 

There is another thing I also proposed in my last, ther are a 
great many young men merch's that come from your parts, who, 
tho' soberly educated & brought up att home, when they arive 
here, are meer rakes, stap att no sin or vice yt falls in their way, 
monstrous Swearing whoring Sabbath breaking drunkenesse &c 
are as common with a great many of them as if they tho't there 
was no evil in any of these sins. And as to their countenancing 
of minrs yt are of the principles of the church of Scotland, from 
that they are so far, that they carry as if they were ashamed of their 
mother church principles & wayes, whatever is the religion of 
their pot & lascivious companions that is their's, so yt realy a 
great many of them (whose names I yet forbear to mention) are 
a perfect scandal to all religion, & a disgrace to that part of 
the world from whence they come. Sure I am, if the parents & 
principals of some of them knew their carriage & beheavour in 
these parts, it would be matter of very great sorrow & greif to 
them. This I propose & speak of not out of disregard I have to 
them but out of love to their souls, for I've been glad to see my 
countrymen in these parts, neither do I speak so, because of any 
particular affront or incivility received of any of them, I never 
mett with any such, from any of them, but on the contrary with 
very much externall civility & respect, but I propose it that some 
method might be fallen upon q^by to rectifie this dreadful! greiv- 
ance, querie whither or not their parents & others concerned in 
them, could not oblidge y^ to bring certificates of their good be- 
havour, during their abode in these parts, from min^s in these 
parts, to their oun att home ? 

Dear S"" My knowledge of your noted zeal, for ye promotion of 
the publick interest of our dearest common Lord, & also your 
capacity, by reason of your high character & station, of doing 
us & the interest of religion here, as much service this way, as 
any other I know, engadged me att first to adventure to propose 
these things unto yow, even without the advice of my brethren, 
whom, when last mett, I acqwainted therewith, who instead of 
dissaproving, encouraged me to back with another letter, what I 
had before said, which, with my not hearing any thing of the last, 
is the reason of this now. 

Pray S"^ use your endeavors y' we in this American wildernesse, 



Ixxvi APPENDIX. 

especially we who are ourselves children of that mother church 
whereof yow are an eminent member, may not be forgot, not only 
in private but in the publick prayers of your churches, Our re- 
lation we stand in to yow, as also our poor practise this way with 
respect to yow, is what makes us put in for a claim to this as our 
due from yow, I assure yow the church of Scotland is not forgot 
amongst us in these parts. 

I conclude praying peace be w^in her walls, prosperity within 
her palaces ; peace peace be be w^ & in thee O Scotland. 

I am Rd Sr 

Your realy affectionate 
tho' worthlesse servt 
Ja : Anderson 

P : S : This, I design shall come, att least to England by ye 
hands of the Rev"^ Mr, John Hampton one of our brethren here, 
whose necessary businesse & exegencies calls him home to Brit- 
tain for some time, who, if yow see or hear from him, can acqwaint 
yow more fully of these & other things relating to us. 

Pray remember my love heartily to The R Rev and Professor 
Simpson J. A. 

(3.) 

New York December 3 1717. 
R R & D Sr 

Your very usefull & acceptable letter of the 12 of Augst last 
I received Q^er 9th via Boston and communicated to this our prez- 
bytry of New York & Long Island & severall other of my 
brethren in whose name & att whose desire, I do hereby return 
yow hearty thanks, for ye care diligence & pains yow have taken 
& been att, in & about the affairs therein containd; and am 
assured yt your Synod shall have y^ hearty sentiments & expres- 
sions of the gratitude of ours, when it meets att Philadelphia 
7ber next. Doubt not but what shall be, or is raised, even within 
the bounds of your Synod, will be of very remarkable benefit to 
Some poor places & people amongst us, for which I'm confident 
yow & your worthy brethren can't miss of your comfortable 
reward & in the mean time yow have of y^ blessings & prayers 
of a great many poor serious souls scattered up & doun here, 
who in due time expect to be sharers in ye fruits of your care & 
bounty towards them. Dear S^ I know your concern & en- 
deavors for the advancement of the publick interest of religion. 
The progresse and prosperity of our Mediators Kingdom both 



LETTERS OF JAMES ANDERSON. Ixxvil 

att home & abroad are such as need no exceetment from any- 
thing I can say, The inward joy comfort & satisfaction arising in 
your oun breast, on the tho'ts & reflections of doing good & 
being any way serv^cable to your great Lord & Master, together 
with ye hopes of the gracious but yet glorious reward which fol- 
low on such Services, are motives, which it but poorly becomes 
me to be so much as a remembrancer to yow of for exceeting 
yow to goe on & continue (as yow have to our great satisfaction 
& comfort begun) to agent our cause & plead with our mother, 
that she may be prevailed upon yet further to extend her bowels 
of care & compassion toward us her poor Scattered children in 
these remote corners, yt we may be, Some way, putt in a better 
capacity, not only of enlarging the bounds of our Lords do- 
minions in these wild heathenish wildernesses, but also advancing 
the credite & reputation of our dear mother the Church of 
Scotland in places & amongst people here, where great pains & 
diligence have been &yet are taken to bring her under ignominie 
& disgrace. 

Since I writ first to yow, your ans^ to which I have now before 
me, I writ again much to the same purpose, about 3 or 4 months 
agoe, by the ReY"d M"" John Hampton, one of our min^s, who, 
for his health & other necessary businesse, is oblidged for some 
time to goe to his native country. If I mistake not, I therein 
gave yow an account of our presbytrie's being constituted a 
Synod, consisting of four presbytries Viz. ye presbytry of Phila- 
delphia wherein are 7 min^s. The presbytry of Newcastle 6 
minrs. The presbj^try of Snow Hill 5 congregations. The presby- 
try of New York & Long Island 5. in each of which presbytries 
there are either some vacancies of places where ministers have 
been settled, or places we expect in a little time shall be settled. 

This place, the City of New York, where I now am, is a place 
of considerable moment & very poplous consisting as I'm in- 
formed of about 3000 families or housekeepers. Its a place of as 
great trade & businesse, if not more now, as any in North 
America. In it are two m.ini's of ye established church of Eng- 
land, two Dutch minrs, one French minr, a Lutheran minister, an 
Anabaptist & also a Qwaker meeting. The place did att first 
intirly belong to the Dutch ; After the English had it endeavours 
were used by ye cheif of ye people who then understood English 
towards the Settlement of an English dissenting minister in it, 
& accordingly one was called from New England, who after he 



Ixxviii APPENDIX. 

had preached sometime here, having a prospect & promise of 
more mony then what he had among the dissenters, went to old 
England, took orders from ye B. of London & came back here as 
minister of the established church of E : Here he yet is, has 
done, & still is doing what he can, to ruin the dissenting interest 
in the place & \' erifying ye old saying Omnis apostata est sectae 
sua osor; Afterwards endeavours were used again & again by 
the famous M"" Francis McKemie, Mf Hampton, M^ McNish & 
others towards the Settlement of a Scots church in this city, but 
by ye arbitrary managment & influence of a wicked high flying 
governour, who preceeded his excellency Brigadeer Hunter, our 
present governour (may ye Lord blesse & long preserve him) that 
businesse has been hitherto impeded, & could never be brought 
in a likly way to bear. 

The last summer, I being providentially here, & being oblidged 
to stay here about businesse the matter of a month, att the desire 
of a few especially Scots people, preached each Sabbath. Tho' there 
were a pretty many hearers, yet there were but few yt were able 
& willing to do anything towards the setting forward such a 
work, a few there were who were willing to do their uttermost, 
but so few that I had then but small grounds to suppose that 
any thing effectually could be done. Some time before our last 
Synod, a call from this small handful! with some few others 
yt had joyn'd them, came to the presbytry of Newcastle desiring 
a transportation of me from Newcastle to New York, which the 
presbytry referred to ye Synod then in a little time to sit. The 
Synod, having a prospect of getting Newcastle supplied by a 
young man one Mr Crosse, lately come from the North of Irland, 
transported me hither. The people here who are favorors of our 
church & perswasion, as I've told yow, are yet but few & none of 
the richest, yet for all, I am not without hopes yt with Gods 
blessing, they shall in a little time encrease. Some are already 
come to live in the city & more are expected whose langwage 
would not allow them to joyn with ye Dutch or French churches. 
& whose consciences would not allow them to joyn in the service 
of the English Church. The cheif thing in all appearance, now 
wanting, with Gods blessing & concurrence to render us a grow- 
ing flourishing congregation, is a good large convenient house or 
church to congregate in ; Some proposal! s are now sett on foot 
towards the building of one, but building being here very coastly. 
& convenient ground to build such a house upon ; being yet 



LETTERS OF JAMES ANDERSON. Ixxix 

more coastly, & the handful] of people yt are having their hands 
full to doe towards the necessary Support of their minister we 
shall not be able to goe through with the building of such a 
house as the place requires, without the assistance of our friends ; 
The crying necessity of having the Gospell & Gospell ordinances 
dispensed purly in our langwage here, This seeming to be the 
time for carrying on such a work, while things are So moderate 
att home, & while we have such a wise moderate governour here. 
Together with ye hopes of the growing of our interest, & the 
hopes of some assistance from our friends & brethren att 
home, att least in building, were cheif considerations moving the 
Synod to transport me hither, & begetting a willingnesse in 
me to comply with the Synods act. 

I believe by this time yow smell my drift. I don't know how 
to begin to beg any more att your door least I should be reck- 
oned (to use our oun Scots word) missleard. But if any of your 
Substantial] Merchtsor some other Synod could be prevailed upon 
to contribute towards the building of a Scots church here oh ! 
how acceptible would it be to us & how Servicable would it be 
to religion & our interest in the place ! Severall of our Scots 
merchants trade hither, & I doubt not, more will, when before 
now they have come, they understanding neither Dutch nor 
French were oblidged either to stay att home or goe to ye church 
of E: or worse which has been ye occasion of some mischeifs 
wickednesse & inconveniencies, which I hope, in a great measure, 
if this work of God succeed here, shall hereafter be prevented, 
I am affrayid I have wearied yow. May the choisest blessings 
both of the upper & nether springs be plentifully poured out on 
yow & yours, May The Church of Scotland be ever preserved 
from antichristian superstitious drosse in doctrine, discipline & 
worship ; May practical] Godlinesse be had more & more in es- 
teem & renoun amongst all ranks & degrees of persons. May 
your famous Universities, especially that whereof yow are the 
principal], flourish, & prove real nurseries for God. These are 
& shall be the petitions & prayers of one who desires an intrest 
in yours & att present remains 

Very Reverend & dear Sr 
Your truly affectionate & oblidged tho' worthlesse 
Broy & Servt 

Ja: Anderson 

P : S : Pray S*" do not forget the businesse of ye young men 



IXXX APPENDIX. 

merchts I wrote before of I would gladly be rembered to profes- 
sor Simpsone a letter from yow now & then would wonderfully 
revive me. This place lyes clear midway betwixt Boston & Phil- 
adelphia, the post from both these places comes here every 
week. 
Addressed: "To the Right Reverend M^ John Stirling prin- 
cipal of the CoUedge of Glasgow." 

(4.) 

Newcastle July 13. 17 19. 

R R Sr 

The favour of yours dated Dec^ 5. 171 8 I receivd June 20. 
1 719 which for any thing that I can find, was, in obedience to the 
Appointm': of our Synod, ansuered last fall by broy^ McNish & 
myself in a letter to yow, with one therein inclosed to the Mod- 
erator of your Synod both which come -.from New York along 
with j\Ir Patrick McKnight merch* there. 

Since I received your letter I have communicated it to severall 
of my brethren here, all aggree that the sending of that mony in 
goods well bought, will tend to greatest advantage here, only on 
the account of the now war, that so we may not run the risque 
of loosing all, it is desired that, if the goods are not sent of before 
this comes to hand, they may be ensured. 

I tho't to have ans^d your letter more particularly & with 
greater deliberation, but being here providentially on the occa- 
sion of the death of my fay^" in law & so from home & pretty 
much in a hurry of businesse & the bearer M^" Alexander (of 
whose savory conversation since he came into these American 
parts I am glad to hear so good a report as I have since I came 
here heard) being also in haste from this, I could not write as I 
would, but yet the opportunity being so good I could not, I think, 
without coming short in my duty but write something, if any 
other opportunity after this offer I resolve to be more par- 
ticular. 

According to your desire I remembred yow to our governour 
B. Hunter who was very glad to hear of yow. & desired me, when 
I writt to yow, to remember his respects to yow. He designs as 
I understand to sail for G. Brittain tomorrow the 14th instant, 
which with my hearty respect to yow & other inquiering freinds 
is all that can be said att this time by 

R R Sr 

Your oun 

Ja: Anderson 



LETTERS OF JAMES ANDERSON. Ixxxi 

Addressed : " For The Right Rcv^ M^ John Stirling principall 
of the colledge of Glasgow " 

" pr Mr Alexandr." 
(Dorso) la: And: New York 17 19 July 13. 

(5.) 

New York 9ber 25 1723. 

Right Reverend & much Honoured S"^ 

We in this congregation are now, by burthen of debt 
and other unnatural oppositions, brought to the uttmost pinch of 
necessity, so that if we meet not with speedy releif, we shall, in 
all humane probability, be oblidged to quitt striving, and give up 
our interest in this place. We have now no probable mean of 
extrication from our difficulties left under God, but by betaking 
ourselves to, and laying our case plainly open before our friends 
& brethren in the Church of Scotland, to see if she can be pre- 
vailed upon to extend her pity and compassion in consulting 
some way for the releif of us her distant & distress'd children 
here. We therfor, and our presbytry for us have as the only 
expedient that now can be tho't of by us, addressed our freinds 
and Brethren with yow, and that this mean may not prove in- 
effectual!, as our attempts this way have hitherto proven, we 
have therewith sent home, as our messenger, our Beloved and 
trustie freind and Brother D^" John Nichols, one of our cheif 
members and representatives, that no lawfuU pains or care may 
be wanting in us for the supporting the interest of religion and 
of our profession here, where it is so much needed, and upon the 
standing of which the presbyterian interest in this province does 
so much depend. 

R^ Sr The frouns of providence and the strange opposition 
that we have mett with here in this wicked place, are, and have 
been, such, that we do not know well what to do, but yet praise 
to our God, our eyes are towards him, we know that it is his fre- 
quent way with his oun church and people, to make their ex- 
tremitie his opportunity of appearing & shewing himself for them 
and their releif. 

Amongst other crosse disspensations it has pleased the Lord in 
his soveraign providence to remove, from amongst us by death, his 
eminent Serv* The Reverend M^ George McNiih who hath been, 
for these 16 or 17 years past, a remarkable instrument under God 
for the support and defence of the Gospell, and of the presbyterian 



Ixxxii APPENDIX. 

interest in these parts, and particularly exerted himself in the be- 
half of the poor distressed infant congregation here. Our losse 
in him, we are ready to be affray'd, is truly irreparable. But what 
shall we say. It is the Lord who both gives and takes att his 
pleasure. Blessed be his name : If that excellent man had lived. 
He would have effectually by his Epistles, back'd our present ad- 
dresses, but he is gone, and we have now none near us, equally 
likeminded for us, who can do any thing by their acqwaintance 
in your parts, it is true we might have had letters to yow from 
Messrs Gillespie, Stewart and Hutcheson, but they living att such 
a distance from this, the project of sending home Dr Nichols in 
this manner, being so latly, to any purpose, tho't upon, and the 
ship in which he is ingadged to goe, being to sail sooner than 
was expected, time has prevented. 

Your last letter to me of the 14th of Feb^y ult. was like to have 
crushed us utterly, but being now driven to the outmost difficul- 
ties, and application to yow being the only expedient left us for 
releif, and not being able to hold it much longer we resolved to 
make a bold attempt, and over the bellie of all difficulties to 
trust providence, as with the Lepers att the gate of Samaria &c, 
in throwing our selves upon our charitably disposed freinds with 
yow for releif, leaving the event to God, if we perish we perish. 

Dear S^ plead with our mother the church for us : for the 
Lords sake for the sake of the intrest of his K.dom, which is, we 
fear, here ready to perish, use, as yow give us ground to think 
yow will, your outmost indeavours to prevent & dissapate our 
fears. Be pleased S"" to let the bearer D^ Nichols have your 
countenance and incouragment, with your best advices and direc- 
tions how to manage himself so as his errand may be render'd 
most successfull, He can give yow a more particular and full 
account of all our affairs here than is proper to be here inserted, 
and He being a gentleman of such noted piety integrity and zeal 
for the interests of our Mediators Kingdom in these parts, I can 
with freedom recomend him as a person worthy of regard whose 
information may be depended on as true and certain ; M^ Hutche- 
son is ordaind a considerable distance from this place. Thus pray- 
ing that the God of all grace & peace may be with yow, and 
earnestly desiring an interest in your prayers, I remain, with 
great regard. 

Very Revend S^ Your oun 

Ja: Anderson. 

Addressed : " To The Right Rev^ and Honorable M^ John Stir- 



LETTER OF GEORGE McNISH, 1718. Ixxxiii 

ling principal! of the CoUedge of Glasgow " " pr D^ Nichols 
. This" 
(Dorso) New York Nov. 25, 1723. 



XXI. 

LETTER OF GEORGE McNISH, 1718. 

This letter is No. 118 in Vol. XXII. of the Wodrow MSS. 

Jamaica on Long Island Nov: 15: 1718 
Rt Rd & hond Sr 

I am by order of our Synod appointed to write yow a letter of 
thanks, for the many singular favours your exemplary piety has 
mov'd yow to do for the interest of God & godliness in these 
American parts : I am to tell yow S^, our Synod are extreme sen- 
sible of the great hand yow have had both in projecting & bring- 
ing to beare several excellent things for encouraging the minis- 
try here, beare with the expression, your commendation & praise 
is truly among the ministers of Christ in our bounds, reflect, Sr^ 
what pleasure it must be to us to see that we are in the thoughts 
& pious affections of a man of your station & character in the 
church of God & that at so great a distance yow have heart and 
goodness as well as ability to be aiding to a few mean instru- 
ments seeking to recover poorjost sheep in this vast wilderness. 

It's many times a wonder to my thoughts, how many great & 
pious men in Brittain can beare with themselves, in living in so 
narrow a capacity as they do, do they not miss it in expounding 
or applying the 2d petition of our Lords prayer, men to whom 
the Lord has given riches learning piety great interest yet want 
largeness of heart to communicate to the spreading the doctrine 
of Christianity among men, humanly speaking, I see not what 
considerable progress Christianity will obtain in these planta- 
tions of America, 'till the antient settlements in Brittain & Ire- 
land shall put on a true generous christian spirit & lay them- 
selves out to seek the good of the disperst of these nations in 
America. May the desireable time come when the Lord shall 
claim America for his own & blessed be they who have a hand 
in ministring to so great a work. 

I shall conclude with my hearty desires to the Lord of all 
goodness for favours of his right hand on yow & all yours, in- 



Ixxxiv APPENDIX. 

treating withall, you'll go on to strengthen our interest, & devise 
liberally for spreading the doctrin of salvation among us. I am 
Much honoured 

Your very humble ser 

Geo: McNish 

P: S: Mr James Anderson having a smal bill of five pounds 
sterling due to Robert Anderson merchant in Bells VVynd in 
Glasgow, it's desired said bill with interest may be paid to said 
Anderson, M^ Anderson having satisfied for the like sume here 
to the Synod in consideration of the money raised by your Synod. 

G. M. 

Addressed : " To The Right Reverend M^ John Stirling princi- 
pal! of the college of Glasgow " 

(Dorso) Synod Pensilvanie Nov. 15, 171 8. 



XXII. 

LETTER OF GEORGE GILLESPIE, 1 723. 

This letter is No. 120 in Vol. XXII. of the Wodrow MSS. 

Reverend S^ 

Being well acquainted w^^ your publick spirit, for the 
Interest of Glorious Christ, I have embraced this opportunity, 
now presented, to send you this letter. 

As to the affairs of Christ in our parts of the world : There are 
a great many congregations erected, and now errecting; for 
w'^'^in the space of five years by gone, near to two hundred Fam- 
ilies have come into our parts from Ireland, and more are fol- 
lowing : They are generally Presbyterians. So, it would appear, 
yt Glorious Christ hath great designs in America ; tho' I ara 
afraid not to be effectuated in my days : for the mi^s and congre- 
gations be multiplied w^h us ; yet alas, there is little of the power 
and life of Religion w^h either : The Lord disappoint my fears. 
There are not above 30 ministers & probationer preachers in 
our Synod, and yet six of the said number have been grossly 
scandalous ; Suspension for 4 Sabbaths hath been the greatest 
censure inflicted as yet. 

Mr Alexander Hutchison was ordained upon the 6th of June 



LETTER OF GEORGE GILLESPIE, 1723. Ixxxv 

last: I preached his ordination sermon, his congregation is con- 
tiguous to mine, he answers the character given of him by the 
Revd Presbytery of Glasgow. One M^ Robert Laing who left 
Scotland about the same time w^^ Mr Hutchison is to be cen- 
sured at our Presbytery of New-Castle upon the first Wednesday 
of August ensueing for Washing himself upon the Lord's day : he 
is the first from Scotland grossly scandalous in our parts. 

Revd Sr be mindfull in your prayers of the Infant church of 
Christ in America, and that the Lord would purifie the sons of 
Levi. May the faithfull God hasten the time v/hen he will fulfill 
his promise in Isa : 59. 19 That they shall fear his name from the 
West. S^, I desire in particular, yt you may be mindfull of me 
in your prayers That I may be an honest and faithfull minister 
of Christ and that I may have many seals of my miT. Remem- 
ber my love and Service to the Rev^ M^ John Simpson Professor 
of Theology in ye Colledge of Glasgow — and to y^ laborious and 
diligent M^ Gersham Carmichal, who was my Regent. 
The Lord be nigh unto you in Mercy 
& love These from, Rev^ S^ 

Your lover and humble Servant 

George Gillespie. 
July ye 16. 1723 at ye head of 
Christiana Creek 12 miles West 
from New-Castle in Pensilvania 
of America. 

Revd Sr 

I earnestly desire of you to write to the Pres- 
bytery of Jeddbrough in order to know if ever one M^" James 
Moorhead was received among y™ in ye Station of a minister and 
if so then wt certainty They had of his ordination in England 
and let me know per first 

The foresaid is now in our bounds the Testimonial of his ordi- 
nation is supposed by our Synod to be but forged. 

Addressed " The Revd Mr John Stirling Principal of the Col- 
ledge in Glasgow — To the care of Mr Robert Alexander 
merchant and to the care of Mr Charles Miller merchant in 
Glasgow." 
(Dorse) July 22 1723, Gillespie George— Pensylvanie. 



IxXXvi APPENDIX. 

XXIII. 

LETTER OF WILLIAM STEWARD, 1726. 

This letter is No. 122 in Vol. XXII. of the Wodrow MSS. 

Sommerset in MaryW. 

July 4. 1726. 
Revd Sr ^ 

I'm glad of this opportunity of returning yow hearty 
thanks for all your former favours to me, upon Sev^i occasions, 
particularly your kind Letters of Recommendation in my favours 
to Mr John Evans, a dissenting Minister in the city of London 
about — [torn] —years ago ; which were of singular use to me at 
that time ; & the grateful sense whereof I shall endeavour to re- 
tain during life. 

There is a worthy Gentle woman in our County, one Mistress 
Mary Hampton, (widow of the late Rev<i M^ John Hampton ane 
eminent GospH Min^ in this County;) that designs to send her 
Eldest son Robert Henry, (her son by her second husband, the 
late Revd M^ John Henry another worthy dissenting Min^ in the 
County afors'd,) to your University in Glasgow. Please give 
this young stranger your countenance & your best advice, to- 
gether with a share in your most serious minutes : His mother 
has been, & still continues, under God, a great & chief support to 
the Interest of Religion in these parts, & has put more than com- 
mon respect upon the Ministers of the Gospell. 

This with my kind respects to yow, & your dear Consort, not 

forgetting your worthy Brother, my late kind Benefactor : & pray 

for poor unworthy me a weak Labourer in our common Lord's 

vineyard. This from him who is, 

Revd Sr 

Yours in the Lord. 

William Steward. 

P. S. 

Please give your 
self the trouble to 
send me Ace' what 
proficiency this 
young Student makes & 
that wt the first. 

Addressed " To the Rev. Mr John Stirling Principal of the 
University of Glasgow these pr M^ Joseph Kinneir Mercht." 



LETTER OF ALEXANDER HUCHESON, 1724. Ixxxvii 

XXIV. 
LETTER OF ALEXANDER HUCHESON, 1 724. 

This letter is No. 121 in VoL XXTL of the Wodrow MSS. 

Revd Sir 

I am not willing to be unmindfull of your kindness to me at 
the University & therfor I make bold to give you the trouble ol 
this. I suppose ye prevent my desire to pray for the success of 
the Gospill in these parts, a Letter from yow would be very 
refreshfull to me in a strange Land; if ye knew how much I 
desire a line from yow, I hope ye would not spare the pains, I 
dare not be too bold because ye have other things of importance 
to mind but I earnestly beg it as a singular favour, it will render 
me a little uneasy if I am not so much favoured of yow : Please 
direct your Letter to me at Broad-creek or Bohemia River in 
Cecil county in Maryland The Head of Chesapeak Bay : Let me 
know hov/ the Gospill prospers with yow : I offer my Humble 
service to Professor Simpson & my old Regents Mr Carmichael, 
Mr Dunlap & Mr Monthland ; Mr James Stirling your Brother & 
Mr Hamilton, Mr Scott, Mr Gray & other ministers if I may 
trouble yow so far; Hopeing ye will favour me with a line tho' 
never so short & wishing the Lord may make yow a Blessing in 
your station I subscribe myself 

Revd Sir 

Your very Humble & indebted Serv^ 

ALEXR HUCHESON 

At Doctor Buchelle's Lodgeing upon Bohemia in 
Cecil County in Maryland at the head of Chesa- 
peak Bay July 15 : 1724. 

Please to mind all ministers & Serious Christians to remember 
the Gospill in these parts, the double measures of Gods power 
would seem to be necessary here ; Remember me kindly to your 
Brother if he would favour me with a line also I would rejoyce 
in it. I shall not truble him further at this time : The professor 
nor Mr Gray have not been so kind as to write to me. I own I 
am unworthy The vessell I write with should return hither. 

Addressed: "To The Rev^^ Mr John Stirling Principall of the 
College of Glasgow at his Lodgeing there Glasgow in North 
Brittain." 

(Dorso) Hutcheson July 1724. Maryland. 



Ixxxviii APPENDIX. 



XXV. 

CHARGES AGAINST PROFESSOR SIMSON. 

There is a great amount of confusion in ail tlie representations 
of tlie case of Prof. Simson, which we have seen, apart from the 
official documents. We have, from the latter, formed a more 
favorable view of the opinions of this distinguished teacher 
of so many of the Scotch and Irish Presbyterian ministers who 
came to America. It is interesting to notice some of the errors 
charged against him and compare them with the views of ortho- 
dox divines at the present time. The following are some of them : 

" That by the light of nature, and Works of Creation and Prov- 
idence, including Tradition, God hath given an obscure, objective 
revelation unto all men, of his being reconcilable to sinners, and 
that the heathen may know there is a remedy for sin provided, 
which may be called an implicite or obscure revelation of the 
Gospel ; that it is probable ; that none are excluded from the 
benefits of the remedy for sin, provided by God, and published 
twice to the world, except those, who, by their actual sin, exclude 
themselves, and slight or reject, either the clearer light of the 
gospel, revealed to the church, or that obscure discovery and 
offer of grace made to all without the church. That if the hea- 
then, in the use of the means they have, would seek the knowl- 
edge of the way of reconciliation, God would discover it to them. 
That there are means appointed by God for obtaining saving 
grace, which means, when diligently used with seriousness, sin- 
cerity and faith of being heard, God hath promised to bless with 
success ; and that the going about these means in the foresaid 
manner, is not above the reach of our natural ability and power. 
That ratio, ut sumitur pro evidentibus propositionibus natural iter 
revelatis, est principium seu fundamentum theologias ; and that 
nothing is to be admitted in Religion but what is agreeable to 
reason, and determined by reason to be so. That it is inconsis- 
tent with the justice and goodness of God, to create a soul with- 
out original righteousness or dispositions to good. And the 
souls of infants since the fall, as they came from the hands of 
their creator, are as pure and holy, as the souls of infants could 
have been created, supposing man had not fallen ; and that they 
are created as pure and holy as Adam was created, except as to 



THE ORDINATION OF NATHAN BASSETT. Ixxxix 

those qualifications and habits, which he received as being created 
in an adult state. 

" That there was not a proper covenant made with Adam for 
himself and his posterity. That Adam was not a federal head 
to his posterity ; and that if Adam was made a federal head, 
it must be by a divine command, which is not found in the Bible. 

" That it is more than probable, that all unbaptized infants dying 
in infancy are saved; and that it is manifest, if God should deny 
his grace to all, or any of the children of infidels, he would deal 
more severely with them, than he did with fallen angels. 

" That were it not for the prospect of happiness, we could not, 
and therefore would not serve God. 

" That there will be no sinning in Hell after the last judgment." 
(See Continuation of the Second Edition of the case of Mr. John 
Simson, Professor of Divinity in the University of Glasgow. Ed- 
inburgh, 1728.) 



XXVI. 

CERTIFICATE OF THE ORDINATION OF NATHAN BASSETT. 

Whereas the Presbyterian Church of Christ in Charlestown in 
South Carolina, lately by death bereaved of their worthy pastor, 
Mr. William Livingston, have by their letters now lying before 
us addressed for a pious, able Presbyterian ordained pastor to be 
sent unto them by the first opportunity to minister unto them 
God's word and ordinances, and to take care of their souls. And 
whereas Mr. Nathan Bassett of Harvard College of Cambridge in 
New England Master of Arts upon applications made to him is 
inclined by God to undertake the proposed mission and to go 
over on the sacred service aforesaid. And wee having a proper and 
full satisfaction in our own minds in the said Mr. Bassett respect- 
ing his proficiency in his studies, his unblamable life and conver- 
sation and his abilities and fitness (through grace) to serve our 
Lord Jesus Christ and his church in the Work and office of a 
minister. These may therefore testifye and declare unto all whom 
it may concern, that upon the 19 day of April 1724 we whose 
names are hereunto subscribed, being pastors in Boston and 
Cambridge in New England, have proceeded solemnly and pub- 
lickly to set him apart for the office of a Presbyter and for the 
Work of a minister of Christ by prayer and the laying on of our 



Xc APPENDIX. 

hands according to the direction of the Gospel. By virtue 
whereof we do declare him to be a lawfull and sufficient author- 
ized minister of Jesus Christ. In witness whereof we have here- 
unto set our hands at Boston this 14 day of April in the year of 
our Lord 1724. Cotton Mather, Benjn Colman, Nathi Appleton, 
Willm Cooper. {Letter Book S. P. G.,) 



XXVII. 

THE PROTESTATION PRESENTED TO THE SYNOD OF PHILADEL- 
PHIA IN 1741. 

Reverend Fathers and Brethren, 

We, the ministers of Jesus Christ, and members of the 
Synod of Philadelphia, being wounded and grieved at our very 
hearts, at the dreadful divisions, distractions, and convulsions, 
which all of a sudden have seized this infant church to such a 
degree, that unless He, who is King in Zion, do graciously and 
seasonably interpose for our relief, she is in no small danger of 
expiring outright, and that quickly, as to the form, order, and 
constitution, of an organized church, which hath subsisted for 
above these thirty years past, in a very great degree of comely 
order and sweet harmony, until of late — we say, we being deeply 
afflicted with these things which lie heavy on our spirits, and 
being sensible that it is our indispensable duty to do what lies in 
our power, in a lawful way, according to the light and direction 
of the inspired oracles, to preserve this swooning church from a 
total expiration : and after the deliberate and unprejudiced in- 
quiry into the causes of these confusions which rage so among 
us, both ministers and people, we evidently seeing, and being 
fully persuaded in our judgments, that besides our misimprove- 
ment of, and unfruitfulness under, gospel light, liberty, and priv- 
ileges, that great decay of practical godliness in the life and 
power of it, and many abounding immoralities : we say, besides 
these, our sins, which we judge to be the meritorious cause of 
our present doleful distractions, the awful judgment we at pres- 
ent groan under, we evidently see that our protesting brethren 
and their adherents, were the direct and proper cause thereof, by 
their unwearied, unscriptural, antipresbyterial, uncharitable, di- 



THE PROTESTATION OF 1741. xci 

visivc practices, which they have been pursuing, with all the in- 
dustry they were capable of, with any probability of success, for 
above these twelve months past especially, besides too much of 
the like practices for some years before, though not with such 
barefaced arrogance and boldness : 

And being fully convinced in our judgments, that it is our duty 
to bear testimony against these disorderly proceedings, according 
to our stations, capacity, and trust reposed in us by our exalted 
Lord, as watchmen on the walls of his Zion, we having endeav- 
oured sincerely to seek counsel and direction from God, who hath 
promised to give wisdom to those that ask him in faith, yea, hath 
promised his Holy Spirit to lead his people and servants into all 
truth, and being clearly convinced in our consciences, that it is a 
duty called unto in this present juncture of affairs : 

Reverend Fathers and Brethren, we hereby humbly and solemnly 
protest, in the presence of the great and eternal God, and his 
elect angels, as well as in the presence of all here present, and 
particularly to you, Reverend Brethren, in our own names, and 
in the names of all, both ministers and people, who shall adhere 
to us, as follows : 

1. We protest that it is the indispensable duty of this Synod, 
to maintain and stand by the principles of doctrine, worship, and 
government, of the Church of Christ, as the same are summed 
up in the Confession of Faith, Catechisms, and Directory, com- 
posed by the Westminster Assembly, as being agreeable to the 
word of God, and which this Synod have owned, acknowledged, 
and adopted, as may appear by our synodical records of the years 
1729, 1736, which we desire to be read publicly. 

2. We protest that no person, minister or elder, should be al- 
lowed to sit and vote in this Synod, who hath not received, 
adopted, or subscribed, the said Confessions, Catechisms, and 
Directory, as our Presbyteries respectively do, according to our 
last explication of the adopting act ; or who is either accused or 
convicted, or may be convicted before this Synod, or any of our 
Presbyteries, of holding or maintaining any doctrine, or who act 
and persist in any practice, contrary to any of those doctrines, or 
rules contained in said Directory, or contrary to any of the 
known rights of Presbytery, or orders made or agreed to by this 
Synod, and which stand yet unrepealed, unless, or until he re- 
nounce such doctrine, and being found guilty, acknowledge, con- 
fess, and profess his sorrow for such sinful disorder, to the satis- 



Xcii APPENDIX. 

faction of this Synod, or such inferior judicatory as the Synod 
shall appoint or empower for that purpose. 

3. We protest that all our protesting brethren have at present 
no right to sit and vote as members of this Synod, having for- 
feited their right of being accounted members of it for many rea- 
sons, a few of which we shall mention afterwards. 

4. We protest that, if, notwithstanding of this our protestation* 
these brethren be allowed to sit and vote in this Synod, without 
giving suitable satisfaction to the Synod, and particularly to us, 
who now enter this protestation, and those who adhere to us in 
it, that whatsoever shall be done, voted, or transacted by them* 
contrary to our judgment, shall be of no force or obligation to 
us, being done and acted by a judicatory consisting in part of 
members who have no authority to act with us in ecclesiastical 
matters. 

5. We protest that, if, notwithstanding this our protestation, 
and contrary to the true intent and meaning of it, these protest- 
ing brethren, and such as adhere to them, or support and coun- 
tenance them in their antipresbyterial practices, shall continue 
to act as they have done this last year, in that case we, and as 
many as have clearness to join with us, and maintain the rights 
of this judicatory, shall be accounted in nowise disorderly, but 
the true Presbyterian Church in this province ; and they shall 
be looked upon as guilty of schism, and the breach of the rules 
of Presbyterial government, which Christ has established in his 
church, which we are ready at all times to demonstrate to the 
world. 

Reverend and dear Brethren, we beseech you to hear us with 
patience, while we lay before you as briefly as we can, some of 
the reasons that move us thus to protest, and more particularly, 
why we protest against our protesting brethren's being allowed 
to sit as members of this Synod. 

I. Their heterodox and anarchical principles expressed in 
their Apology, pages twenty-eight and thirty-nine, where they 
expressly deny that Presbyteries have authority to oblige their 
dissenting members, and that Synods should go any further, in 
judging of appeals or references, etc., than to give their best ad- 
vice, which is plainly to divest the officers and judicatories of 
Christ's kingdom of all authority, (and plainly contradicts the 
thirty -first article of our Confession of Faith, section three, which 
these brethren pretend to adopt,) agreeable to which is the whole 



THE PROTESTATION OF 1741. Xciii 

superstructure of arguments which they advance and maintain 
against not only our synodical acts, but also all authority to 
make any acts or orders that shall bind their dissenting mem- 
bers, throughout their whole Apology. 

2. Their protesting against the Synod's act in relation to the 
examination of candidates, together with their proceeding to 
license and ordain men to the ministry of the gospel, in opposi- 
tion to, and in contempt of said act of Synod. 

3. Their making irregular irruptions upon the congregations 
to which they have no immediate relation, without order, con- 
currence, or allowance of the Presbyteries or ministers to which 
congregations belong, thereby sowing the seeds of division 
among people, and doing what they can to alienate and fill 
their minds with unjust prejudices against their lawfully called 
pastors. 

4. Their principles and practice of rash judging and condemn- 
ing all who do not fall in with their measures, both ministers 
and people, as carnal, graceless, and enemies to the work of God, 
and what not, as appears in Mr. Gilbert Tennent's sermon against 
unconverted ministers, and his and Mr. Blair's papers of May 
last, which were read in open Synod ; which rash judging has 
been the constant practice of our protesting brethren, and their 
irregular probationers, for above these twelve months past, in 
their disorderly itinerations and preaching through our congre- 
gations, by which, (alas ! for it,) most of our congregations, 
through weakness and credulity, are so shattered and divided, 
and shaken in their principles, that few or none of us can say we 
enjoy the comfort, or have the success among our people, which 
otherwise we might, and which we enjoyed heretofore. 

5. Their industriously persuading people to believe that the 
call of God whereby he calls men to the ministry, does not con- 
sist in their being regularly ordained and set apart to that work, 
according to the institution and rules of the word ; but in some 
invisible motions and workings of the Spirit, which none can be 
conscious or sensible of but the person himself, and with respect 
to which he is liable to be deceived, or play the hypocrite ; that 
the gospel preached in truth by unconverted ministers, can be of 
no saving benefit to souls ; and their pointing out such ministers, 
whom they condemn as graceless by their rash judging spirit, 
they effectually carry the point with the poor credulous people, 
who, in imitation of their example, and under their patrociny. 



Xciv APPENDIX. 

judge their ministers to be graceless, and forsake their ministry 
as hurtful rather than profitable. 

6. Their preaching the terrors of the law in such u manner and 
dialect as has no precedent in the word of God, but rather ap- 
pears to be borrowed from a worse dialect ; and so industriously 
working on the passions and affections of weak minds, as to 
cause them to cry out in a hideous manner, and fall down in 
convulsion-like fits, to the marring of the profiting both of them- 
selves and others, who are so taken up in seeing and hearing 
these odd symptoms, that they cannot attend to or hear what 
the preacher says ; and then, after all, boasting of these things 
as the work of God, which we are persuaded do proceed from 
an inferior or worse cause. 

7. Their, or some of them, preaching and maintaining that all 
true converts are as certain of their gracious state as a person 
can be of what he knows by his outward senses ; and are able to 
give a narrative of the time and manner of their conversion, or 
else they conclude them to be in a natural or graceless state, and 
that a gracious person can judge of another's gracious state other- 
wise than by his profession and life. That people are under no 
sacred tie or relation to their own pastors lawfully called, but 
may leave them when they please, and ought to go where they 
think they get most good. 

For these and many other reasons, we protest, before the 
Eternal God, his holy angels, and you. Reverend Brethren, and 
before all here present, that these brethren have no right to be 
acknowledged as members of this judicatory of Christ, whose 
principles and practices are so diametrically opposite to our doc- 
trine, and principles of government and order, which the great 
King of the Church hath laid down in his word. 

How absurd and monstrous must that union be, where one 
part of the members own themselves obliged, in conscience, to 
the judicial determinations of the whole, founded on the word 
of God, or else relinquish membership ; and another part declare, 
they are not obliged and will not lubmit, unless the determin- 
ation be according to their minds, and consequently will submit 
to no rule, in making of which they are in the negative. 

Again, how monstrously absurd is it, that they should so much 
as desire to join with us, or we with them, as a judicatory, made 
up of authoritative officers of Jesus Christ, while they openly ' 
condemn us wholesale ; and, when they please, apply their con- 



THE PKOTESTATION OF 1741. XCV 

demnatory sentences to particular brethren by name, without 
judicial process, or proving them guilty of heresy or immorality, 
and at the same time will not hold Christian communion with 
them. 

Again, how absurd is the union, while some of the members of 
the same bod}^ which meet once a year, and join as a judicatory 
of Christ, do all the rest of the year what they can, openly and 
above board, to persuade the people and flocks of their brethren 
and fellow members, to separate from their own pastors, as grace- 
less hypocrites, and yet they do not separate from them them- 
selves, but join with them once every year, as members of the 
same judicatory of Christ, and oftener, when Presbyteries are 
mixed. Is it not most unreasonable, stupid indolence in us, 
to join with such as are avowedly tearing us in pieces like beasts 
of prey .'' 

Again, is not the continuance of union with our protesting 
brethren very absurd, when it is so notorious that both their 
doctrine and practice are so directly contrary to the adopting 
act, whereby both they and we have adopted the Confession of 
Faith, Catechisms and Directory, composed by the Westminster 
Assembly ? 

Finally, is not continuance of union absurd with those who 
would arrogate to themselves a right and power to palm and 
obtrude members on our Synod, contrar)^ to the minds and judg- 
ment of the body ? 

In fine, a continued union, in our judgment, is most absurd and 
inconsistent, when it is so notorious, that our doctrine and prin- 
ciples of church government, in many points, are not only di- 
verse, but directly opposite. For how can two walk together, 
except they be agreed ? 

Reverend Fathers and Brethren, these are a part, and but a 
part, of our reasons why we protest as above, and which we have 
only hinted at, but have forborne to enlarge on them as we 
might, the matter and substance of them are so well known to 
you all, and the whole world about us, that we judged this hint 
sufficient at present, to declare our serious and deliberate judg- 
ment in the matter ; and as we profess ourselves to be resolvedly 
against principles and practice of both anarchy and schism, so 
we hope that God, whom we desire to serve and obey, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, whose ministers we are, will both direct and enable 
us to conduct ourselves, in these trying times, so as our con- 



Xcvi APPENDIX. 

sciences shall not reproach us as long as we live. Let God arise, 
and let his enemies be scattered, and let them that hate him fly- 
before him, but let the righteous be glad, yea, let them exceed- 
ingly rejoice. And may the spirit of life and comfort revive and 
comfort this poor swooning and fainting church, quicken her to 
spiritual life, and restore her to the exercise of true charity, peace, 
and order. 

Although we can freely, and from the bottom of our hearts, 
justify the Divine proceedings against us, in suffering us to fall 
into these confusions for our sins, and particularly for the great 
decay of the life and power of godliness among all ranks, both 
ministers and people, yet we think it to be our present duty to 
bear testimony against these prevailing disorders, judging that 
to give way to the breaking down the hedge of discipline and 
government from about Christ's vineyard, is far from being the 
proper method of causing his tender plants to grow in grace and 
fruitfulness. 

As it is our duty in our station, without delay to set about a 
reformation of the evils whereby we have provoked God against 
ourselves, so we judge the strict observation of his laws of gov- 
ernment and order, and not the breaking of them, to be one 
necessary mean and method of this necessary and much to be 
desired reformation. And we doubt not, but when our God sees 
us duly humbled and penitent for our sins, he will yet return to 
us in mercy, and cause us to flourish in spiritual life, love, unity, 
and order, though perhaps we may not live to see it, yet this 
testimony that we now bear, may be of some good use to 
our children yet unborn, when God shall arise and have mercy 
on Zion. 

Ministers : Robert Cross, John Thomson, Francis Alison, Rob- 
ert Cathcart, Richard Zanchy, John Elder, John Craig, Samuel 
Caven, Samuel Thomson, Adam Boyd, James Martin, Robert 
Jamison. 

Elders : Robert Porter, Robert McKnight, William McCulloch, 
John McEwen, Robert Rowland, Robert Craig, James Kerr, Alex- 
ander McKnight. 



LETTEE TO PRESIDENT CLAP. xcvii 



XXVIII. 

LETTER OF SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA TO PRESIDENT CLAP. 

Very Reverend Sir : — We received the favour of yours of 
the 2 1 St of November last, and acknowledge our obligation to 
the President and Fellows of Yale College for considering our 
request and expressing their readiness to promote the interest of 
religion and learning among us. 

We agree with you that the affair is of great importance, and 
are willing to satisfy you to the utmost as to the plan and con- 
stitution of our school, and the present state of our Synod, under 
whose care it is. Some years ago our Synod found the interest 
of Christ's kingdom likely to suffer in these parts for want of a 
college for the education of young men. And our supplies 
either from Europe or New England were few in proportion 
to the numerous vacancies in our growing settlements. Mr, 
William Tennent set up a school among us, where some were 
educated, and afterwards admitted to the ministry without suffi- 
cient qualifications as was judged by many of the Synod. And 
what made the matter look worse, those that were educated in 
this private way decried the usefulness of some parts of learning 
that we thought very necessary. It was therefore agreed to try- 
to erect a college, and apply to our friends in Britain, and Ire- 
land, and New England to assist us. We wrote to the Associa- 
tion of Boston on this head, and had a very favourable answer. 
But when we were thus projecting our plan, and appointing 
commissioners to Britain, etc., to promote the thing, the war 
with Spain was proclaimed, which put a stop to our proceedings 
then. The Synod then came to a public agreement to take all 
private schools where young men were educated for the ministry 
so far under their care as to appoint a committee of our Synod 
to examine all such as had not obtained degrees in the European 
or New England colleges, and give them certificates if they were 
found qualified, which was to serve our Presbyteries instead of a 
college diploma, till better provision could be made. Mr. Gilbert 
Tennent cried out that this was to prevent his father's school for 
training gracious men for the ministry; and he, and some of his 
adherents, protested against it, and counteracted this our public 
agreement, admitting men to the ministry which we judged unfit 
for that office, which course they persisted in though admon- 



XCviii APPENDIX. 

ished and reproved by us for such unwarrantable proceedings. 
While these debates subsisted, Mr. Whitefield came into the 
country, whom they drew into their party to encourage divisions. 
And they and he have been the sad instruments of dividing our 
churches. And by his interest Mr. Gilbert Tennent grew hardy 
enough to tell our Synod he would oppose their design of get- 
ting assistance to erect a college wherever we should make 
application, and would maintain young men at his father's 
school in opposition to us. This, with his and his adherents' 
divisive practices, obliged the Synod to exclude him and others 
of his stamp, from their communion. In this situation our 
affairs grew worse ; for our vacancies were numerous, and we 
found it hard in such trouble to engage such gentlemen either 
from New England or Europe to come among us, as our best 
friends in those places could recommend as steadfast in the 
faith, and men of parts and education. Upon this the Synod 
erected a school in the year 1744. It was agreed that the said 
school should be opened under the inspection of the Synod, 
where the languages, philosophy, and divinity should be taught 
gratis, to all that should comply with the regulation of the 
school, being persons of good character and behaviour. They 
appointed a master and tutor for this business, who were to be 
paid by such contributions as the Synod could obtain for this 
purpose ; and agreed, from year to year, to appoint trustees to 
meet twice a year to inspect the master's diligence and method 
of teaching, to direct what authors are chiefly to be read in the 
several branches of learning, to examine the scholars as to their 
proficiency and good conduct, and apply the money procured to 
such uses as they judge proper, and to order all affairs relating 
unto the school. And the trustees are yearly to be accountable 
to the Synod, and to make report of their proceedings, and the 
state of the school. And it is agreed, that after said scholars 
pass the course of studies prescribed them, they shall be publicly 
examined by the said trustees, and such ministers as the Synod 
shall think fit to appoint, and if approved receive testimonials of 
their approbation, and without such testimonials none of the 
Presbyteries under the care of our Synod shall improve any of 
our scholars in the ministry. From this narrative you see how 
narrow our foundation is, and yet how necessary it was that we 
should do something of this nature to prevent our being over- 
run with ignorance and confusion. You see how we have been 



LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLAP. xcix 

straitened by the endeavours of some that belonged to our body, 
who in their zeal have spoken diminutively of all the reformed 
churches, and endeavoured to pour contempt on colleges and 
universities. We hope, therefore, you will enable us to make a 
stand against those evils, and to be united with you in this grand 
design, is one reason of our present application. We can with 
pleasure inform you that our poor undertaking has been so 
blessed by Providence as to exceed our expectations. Several 
ministers and gentlemen have helped us to books to begin a 
library ; and we hope that in time we may obtain assistance 
from England, Ireland, and elsewhere, to enable us to found a 
college, though the troubles of the times hinder our applica- 
tion at present. We have not obtained a charter as yet, but 
have reason to hope we may procure one if there be occasion ; 
but have another way judged by our best lawyers a good founda- 
tion to secure donations, by appointing trustees and obliging 
them to give declarations of trust. We have also, belonging to 
our Synod, a considerable fund for public uses, but have no 
occasion hitherto, to apply any of it to the use of the school, 
being otherwise supplied. What hath been said may satisfy you 
that our school is under such regulation as does as nearly corre- 
spond with yours as our present circumstances will admit ; but 
we shall readily make any amendments that you desire if it be 
in our power. We are obliged to admit boys to read grammar but 
are determined to recommend none but such as have made a good 
proficiency in the languages, and are in some measure acquainted 
with the usual course of study in the arts and sciences now used 
in the British colleges, though we freely acknowledge our vast 
disadvantages, especially in natural philosophy, and will cheer- 
fully agree, as far as our circumstances will permit, that the 
same, or generally the same, authors, on the arts and sciences be 
taught in our school as are used by you ; and would gladly be 
favoured with a particular account of them. The time of stay 
with you which you mention, and the expenses, we think reason- 
able ; yet, as learning is not in the same esteem in this govern- 
ment as in New England, we beg all the indulgence your con- 
stitution can allow us, lest parents grudge expenses if they run 
high. We heartily agree that our scholars be examined by the 
President and Fellows, and be treated only according to their 
proficiency ; that they be obliged to bring recommendations 
from our Synod, or trustees of the school, and shall claim no 



C APPENDIX. 

precedency in your classes, nor the privilege of freshmen, but 
what are consistent with the good order of your college. Nor do 
we plead any such privilege for any but the inhabitants of Penn- 
sylvania, or the parts that are as far distant from New Haven, 
and are educated under our care, and have synodical recom- 
mendations. We further assure you, that improving in the 
ministry such scholars as you expelled, has been as offensive to 
us as to you. And those which joined with the Tennents and 
their party in this affair, as we understand, have withdrawn from 
our synodical communion, and joined with them entirely under 
the denomination of the Synod of New York. As to the Synod's 
constitution, we are unanimously agreed in the same plan in 
every respect on which we constituted, and continued in our 
most flourishing circumstances ; so we are, to a man, dissatisfied 
with the late divisive practices, and would soon, we hope, be in 
a flourishing state again had we ministers to supply our vacan- 
cies. We excluded from synodical communion, as we remarked 
already, the four Tennents, Blair, Craighead, (who is since turned 
a rigid Covenanter, or Cameronian,) Treat, and Mr. Wales. 
These, especially the Tennents, Blair, and Treat, being the ring- 
leaders of our divisions, and the destroyers of good learning and 
gospel order among us ; and they, with a few others that joineil 
with them, erected themselves into a separate body, and licensed 
and ordained men for the work of the ministry that were gener- 
ally ignorant, and warm in the divisive scheme, and they have 
troubled Virginia, and the New English government, and as we 
are informed, pretend that they belong to our body. But we can 
assure you, that Mr. Gilbert Tennent, and his adherents, were 
disowned as members, and excluded communion, before his 
famous tour through the churches of New England. Some of 
our brethren of New York Presbytery, whom we esteem and 
regard, particularly Messrs. Dickinson, Pierson, and Pemberton, 
have always as freely, till lately, blamed those practices as any of 
us; but now, through some unhappy bias, are become warm 
advocates for them, and blaming our method of excluding them, 
have for two or three years past laboured to procure them seats 
among us, without acknowledging their faults in dividing our 
churches, and promising amendment before we receive them 
again. And we believe that their partiality for these men might 
occasion them to join in encouraging some of your disorderly 
scholars which we are far from vindicating. When these gentle- 



A COLLECTION FOR THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. q\ 

men could not succeed in their attempt to bring in those 
itinerants without acknowledging their faults, as we said, they 
withdrew from the Synod, declaring that they had no other 
ground to do so but our excluding those members in a way they 
disliked; and last September they erected themselves into a 
Synod, which goes under the name of the Synod of New York. 
And we have now before us a letter desiring correspondence 
with them, by receiving two or three of their members to sit 
with us yearly, and sending as many to them. They also pro- 
pose that we should every third year meet in some convenient 
place, by delegates, to order public affairs for the glory of God, 
and good of the church. The proposals seem fair, but till these 
dividers of our churches, and who chiefly make up that body, 
declare against the late divisive, uncharitable practices ; till they 
show us in what way they intend to have their youth educated 
for the ministry, and be as ready to discourage all such methods 
of bringing all good learning into contempt as the shepherd's 
tent, we shall be shy to comply with their proposals. 

Thus, sir, we have given you a just account both of the Synod 
and school at present, by which you may understand the difficul- 
ties we labour under ; and we doubt not but your sincere desire 
to promote the interest of religion and learning among us will 
incline you to do all in your power for our help and encourage- 
ment. You will be pleased to communicate this to the corpora- 
tion, and if they think fit to take any notice of it, we will depend 
on them to favour us with an answer. We heartily wish the 
Divine blessing on your labours in the ministry, and in training 
up youth for that sacred work, and pray that your college may 
flourish and become more and more a blessing, not only to New 
England, but the neighbouring colonies, and we beg leave to 
assure you that to maintain a Christian, friendly correspondence 
with you will be a great pleasure to, very Reverend Sir, your 
affectionate brethren and humble servants. (/Records, pp. i86- 
i88.) 



XXIX. 

ACT FOR A COLLECTION FOR THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. 

We have taken the following extract from the MS. Minutes of 
the Church of Scotland : 



Cll 



APPENDIX. 



1754, May 31st, Sess. 8. 
The Committee formerly named to prepare an Act and Rec- 
ommendation for a voluntary Collection for the College of New 
Jersey brought in their draught thereof in writing, which being 
read was after some Amendments, approven of by the Assembly 
as follows viz. At Edinburgh the thirty-first Day of May one 
thousand seven hundred and fifty-four, which Day, There was 
presented to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland by 
the Reverend Mr. Gilbert Tennent and Mr. Samuel Davies two 
Petitions, the one from the Synod of New York and the other 
from the Trustees of the College of Nev/ Jersey bearing That a 
College has lately been erected in the Province of New Jersey by 
his Majesty's Royal Charter, in which a number of Youth have 
been already educated, who now begin to be useful both to 
Church and State ; and from very small Beginnings, the Number 
of Students is now increased to about sixty who are under the 
Care of the President and two Tutors, But that after all the 
Contributions that have been made to the said College, or can 
be raised in these grants, the fund is far from being sufficient for 
the erection of proper Buildings, Supporting the President and 
Tutors furnishing a Library and defraying other necessary ex- 
pences. — That the erecting of such a College is of the utmost 
importance to the interests of Learning and Religion in that in- 
fant Country, and what the deplorable circumstances of the 
Churches there do greatly require. That in the Colonies of New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsilvania, Maryland, Virginia and Carolina 
a great number of Congregations have been formed upon the 
Presbyterian Plan which have put themselves under the care of 
the said Synod who conform to the Constitution of the Church 
of Scotland, and have adopted her Standards of Doctrine, Wor- 
ship and Discipline and there are also large Settlements lately 
planted in various parts particularly in North and South Caro- 
lina, where multitudes are extremely desireous of the Ministrations 
of the Gospel but are not formed into Congregations for Want 
of Ministers. That Notwithstanding the most painful endeav- 
ours of the said Synod who have sent their Members and Can- 
didates to officiate sometimes among these numerous Bodies of 
People so widely dispersed, and used all practicable measures 
for the Education of pious Youths for the Ministry, they have 
been utterly incapable to make sufficient Provision for so many 
shepherdless flflocks. That the Number of Ministers in the said 



A COLLECTION FOR THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, ciii 

Synod is far from being equal to that of the Congregations under 
their Care, and though sundry youth have been lately licensed 
ordained and settled in Congregations that were before destitute, 
yet they have just now no less than fforty vacant Congregations, 
besides many more, which are unable at present to support Min- 
isters, and the whole Colony of North Carolina where numerous 
Congregations of Presbyterians are forming, and where there is 
not one Presbyterian Minister now settled. That for these Rea- 
sons unless some effectual Measures can be taken for the Educa- 
tion of proper Persons for the Sacred Character the Churches 
of Christ in these parts must Continue in the most destitute Cir- 
cumstances, thousands perishing for lake of knowledge and the 
rising age growing up in a state little better than that of Heath- 
enism, with regard to the publick Ministrations of the Gospel. 
That as the difficulty and, in some cases, the impossibility, of 
sending youths from some hundreds of miles to the Colleges in 
New England, is evident, as from the College of New Jersey alone 
they can expect a Remedy of these Inconveniencies and a suf- 
ficient supply of accomplished Ministers. That in this neces- 
sitous state the Petitioners most earnestly pray for the Counte- 
nance and Assistance of the Assembly, The Young Daughter of 
the Church of Scotland, helpless and exposed in this foreign 
Land, Cries to her tender and powerful Mother for Relief ; The 
Cries of Ministers oppressed with Labours, and of Congregations 
famishing for Want of the sincere milk of the word, implore As- 
sistance, and were the poor Indian Savages sensible of their own 
Case they would join in the Crie and beg for more Missionaries 
to be sent to propagate the Religion of Jesus among them, That 
the said Synod and Trustees had therefor sent over the above 
mentioned Masters Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Davies as their 
Commissioners to present their humble Solicitations praying 
that the General Assembly would pass an Act for a Collection in 
favour of the said College. The General Assembly having con- 
sidered the above Petition together with the Certificates and 
Recommendations therewith produced by the said two Reverend 
Ministers ; and being sensible that the Encouraging of the said 
College is of great importance to the Interests of Religion and 
learning and the support and further avancement of the King- 
dom of Christ in those parts of the World, Do therefore author- 
ise and appoint a Collection to be made at the Church Doors of 
all the Parishes in Scotland upon any Lord's Day betwixt this and 



civ APPENDIX. 

the first of Januar)^ next the particular Day to be fixed by the 
several Presbyteries as they find to be most convenient for the 
Parishes in their Bounds ; and that the money Collected within 
the Bounds of the Synods of Glasgow and Air and Argyle be 
paid in to Baillie Archibald Ingram Mercht in Glasgow and that 
collected within the Bounds of the other Synods in Scotland be 
paid in to Mr. William Hogg and Son Merchts in Glasgow, And 
the General Assembly do earnestly recommend to all, to contrib- 
ute according to their ability to this useful and charitable De- 
sign, and ordains this Act and Recommendation to be read from 
the pulpits of all the Churches in Scotland the Sabbath immedi- 
ately preceeding the Day that shall be named for making the 
said Collection, and that Ministers at reading thereof enforce the 
same with Suitable Exhortations, and Presbyteries, at their first 
Meeting after the Day fixed for making the Collection, are here- 
by appointed to call for an Account from their several Members 
if the same hath been made And the General Assembly recom- 
mend to Ministers to apply to the Nobility and Gentry as they 
may have an opportunity in order to obtain their Charitable As- 
sistance in this matter and the Clerks are appointed to transmit 
the said Act to the several Presbyteries as soon as possible. 



XXX. 

ACTION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND FOR THE HELP OF THE 
GERMAN REFORMED CHURCHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

We have taken the following extract from the MS. Minutes of 
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, access to which 
was freely granted in the summer of 1884 through the kindness 
of Prof. A. F. Mitchell, D.D., and Mr. Douglas ; 

Report of the Committee with reference to Pensilvania 

1752, May 22 

Sess. 8 

Upon Report of the Committee appointed yesterday to inspect 

the Vouchers of the Reverend M"* David Thomson Minister of 

Amsterdam Petitioner in behalf of the German Protestants in 

Pensilvania and North America, The General Assembly caused 



ACTION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. cv 

to be read three Letters presented by the said M^ Thomson, one 
from the six deputys of the Provincial Synod of Holland, another 
from the Presbytery of Amsterdam, and a third from the Con- 
sistory of the English Church there, all setting forth and enforc- 
ing the purpose of his petition and Commissioning him to agent 
the same. 

And the Assembly having also heard the said M^ Thomson 
himself, and being fully satisfied of the ground and importance 
of his application, Did agree to the following Act and Recom- 
mendation Vizt The General Assembly had transmitted to them 
from their Committee for Bills A Petition of the Reverend 
Mr David Thomson Minister of the English reformed Church in 
Amsterdam in behalf of the German Protestant Churches settled 
in Pensilvania and North America shewing. That great numbers 
of Poor Protestants having for many years past gone from di- 
verse parts of Germany and Switzerland to settle with their 
ffamilys in the British Colonys of North America and having 
represented to the Protestant Churches of Holland their dis- 
tressed circumstances in their new Settlements thro' their want 
of Ministers to instruct them and their utter Inability to main- 
tain them and earnestly implored their assistance, they obtained 
from the said Churches several years ago a liberal Collection for 
these purposes but that the provision thereby made for them 
proved greatly insufficient to answer their necessitys, especially 
as their numbers considerably increased from year to year by the 
arrival of many persons & ffamilys from Germany and Swit- 
zerland and neighbouring places, That the unhappy State of 
their affairs being weel known to their Brethern in Switzerland, 
the Reverend M^ Michael Schlatter Minister of St Gall in that 
Country was in the year one thousand seven hundred and fourty 
six, sent to visite them, who having spent more than four years 
among them, and upon his return last year lay before the 
Churches, and Ministers of Holland a particular Account of the 
necessitous Circumstances of their Brethern in these Colonys, 
ffrom which it appears that in fifortysix Congregations consisting 
of upwards of Thirty thousand persons, and these greatly scat- 
tered thro' the Country they had only four Ministers to preach 
and administer the Sacraments to them, that they were almost 
entirely destitute of Bibles Testaments and Books of practical 
Religion in that Language which alone they understand, and 
had hardly any School-Masters for the Instruction of their Chil- 



Cvi APPENDIX. 

dren, that in Consequence of this, the Sentiments of Religion 
which many of them carried out of their own Country were 
greatly worn off, whilst others of them are filled with the most 
distressing apprehensions lest themselves and their ffamilys 
should gradually degenerate into the darkness and Idolatory 
of the Indian Nations, or fall a prey to the Superstitions and 
Idolatrys of Popery, Togertherwith which Account the said 
Mr Schlatter presented a very solemn and moving Address from 
the Chief of the German Protestants there, earnestly entreating 
their fellow Christians and Protestants to give them their kind 
assistance in these their melancholy circumstances that they and 
their posterity might be preserved from the falling away entirely 
from the knowledge and practice of Christianity. That the Case 
having been represented to the States of Holland and West 
ffriesland their High Mightinesses (under the auspicious Influ- 
ence of his late Most Serene Highness the Prince of Orange of 
Glorious Memory) had given considerable Encouragement to the 
pious design of assisting and Supplying these poor desolate Con- 
gregations, and many in Amsterdam and other places had been 
very generous and liberal upon this Occasion, That the Synods 
of Holland having been doing in their power for their Relief 
and support, and were just now sending them six more Ministers 
for carrying on the work of the Gospell among them, But that 
notwithstanding all that hath been done the Circumstances of 
that people loudly call for a further supply in order to provide 
but tolerable Subsistance for Ministers and School-Masters and 
purchase Bibles and other Books necessary for their Religious 
instruction. For which reason the Deputys chosen by the Syn- 
ods of Holland for promoting this Charitable Work, together 
with the Presbytery of Amsterdam and the Consistory of the 
English reformed Church these had Commisioned the said 
Mr David Thomson to apply to their Brethern in Great Brittain 
and Ireland and earnestly implore their assistance in this com- 
mon Cause of Christianity and the Protestant Religion, And 
the said Petitioner presented to the Assembly Letters as his Cre- 
dentials from the three Reverend Bodys above mentioned, and 
also referred to Copys and Extracts from Mr Schlatters Journalls 
and from the Resolutions of the Resolutions of the Provincial 
Synods and the states of Holland and West ffriesland giving the 
fullest accounts of the State and Situation of these German Prot- 
estants in the British Colonys and of what steps have been taken 



ACTION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. cvH 

and are now taking for their assistance. That as this is a Cause 
in which the Protestant in General and Great Britain in partic- 
ular is immediately concerned as the persons imploring Relief 
are Protestants, as they are the Subjects of the British Crown, 
and firmly attached to its interests, both in civil and religious 
principles, as they Cultivate a Country which in time of peace 
maintains a flourishing Trade, and in time of war Supplies assist- 
ance of various kinds against the common Enemy, It was there- 
fore humbly hoped that the Church of Scotland would concur 
with those of the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland in Pro- 
moting so Worthy and Catholic a design, on the success of which 
the present and future Happiness of so many Thousands and of 
their posterity after them depends and which under God, may 
be improved to the propagation of the Gospell among the neigh- 
bouring Indian Nations who as yet have never been blest with the 
knowledge of it, and is even necessary to Settle and Strengthen 
one of the principal Colonys, and thereby increase the Trade 
and prosperity of those Nations, and therefore Craving that the 
General Assembly would appoint a Contribution for the purpose 
above mentioned, — The General Assembly having considered 
the above Petition and having heard read, the Letters therein 
referred to from the said Deputys, Presbytery and Consistory 
confirming what is sett forth in the Petition, and being Sensibly 
affected with the distressed State of their Protestant Brethern 
in these British Colonys, Doe in order to their Relief appoint 
A Collection to be made at the Church Doors of all the Parishes 
in Scotland, upon the last Sabbath in November next, that is 
the second Sabbath of December new Stile, and the money so 
collected to be paid into Mr Thomas Mansfield and Mr William 
Hog merchants in Edinburgh, And the General Assembly or- 
dains this Act and Recommendation to be read from the Pulpits 
of all the Churches in Scotland the Sabbath immediately pre- 
ceeding the day named for the said Collection, and the ministers 
at the reading of it, to exhort the people in the most earnest 
manner to contribute according to their Ability for a purpose so 
Charitable and important. 



Cviii APPENDIX. 

XXXI. 

THE PLAN OF UNION, 1758. 

The plan of union agreed upon between the Synods of New 
York and Philadelphia, at their meeting at Philadelphia, May 
29th, 1758. 

The Synods of New York and Philadelphia, taking into serious 
consideration the present divided state of the Presbyterian 
church in this land, and being deeply sensible that the division 
of the church tends to weaken its interests, to dishonour religion, 
and consequently its glorious Author ; to render government 
and discipline ineffectual, and finally to desolve its very frame ; 
and being desirous to pursue such measures as may most tend to 
the glory of God and the establishment and edification of his 
people, do judge it to be our indispensable duty to study the 
things that make for peace, and to endeavour the healing of that 
breach which has for some time subsisted amongst us, that so its 
hurtful consequences may not extend to posterity ; that all occa- 
sion of reproach upon our society may be removed, and that we 
may carry on the great designs of religion to better advantage 
than we can do in a divided state ; and since both Synods con- 
tinue to profess the same principles of faith, and adhere to the 
same form of worship, government, and discipline, there is the 
greater reason to endeavour the compromising those differences, 
which were agitated many years ago with too great warmth and 
animosity, and unite in one body. 

For which end, and that no jealousies or grounds of alienation 
may remain, and also to prevent future breaches of like nature, 
we agree to unite and do unite in one body, under the name of 
the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, on the following 
plan. 

I. Both Synods having always approved and received the 
Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Cate- 
chisms, as an orthodox and excellent system of Christian doc- 
trine, founded on the word of God, we do still receive the same 
as the confession of our faith, and also adhere to the plan of 
worship, government, and discipline, contained in the Westmin- 
ster Directory, strictly enjoining it on all our members and pro- 
bationers for the ministry, that they preach and teach according 



THE PLAN OF UNION, 1758. cix 

to the form of sound words in said Confession and Catechisms, 
and avoid and oppose all errors contrary thereto. 

II. That when any matter is determined by a major vote, every 
member shall either actively concur with, or passively submit to 
such determination ; or, if his conscience permit him to do 
neither, he shall, after sufficient liberty modestly to reason and 
remonstrate, peaceably withdraw from our communion, without 
attempting to make any schism. Provided always, that this 
shall be understood to extend only to such determinations as 
the body shall judge indispensable in doctrine or Presbyterian 
government. 

III. That any member or members, for the exoneration of his 
or their conscience before God, have a right to protest against 
any act or procedure of our highest judicature, because there is 
no further appeal to another for redress; and to require that 
such protestation be recorded in their minutes. And as such 
a protest is a solemn appeal from the bar of said judicature, no 
member is liable to prosecution on the account of his protesting. 
Provided always, that it shall be deemed irregular and unlawful, 
to enter a protestation against any member or members, or to 
protest facts or accusations instead of proving them, unless a fair 
trial be refused even by the highest judicature. And it is agreed, 
that protestations are only to be entered against the public acts, 
judgments, or determinations of the judicature with which the 
protester's conscience is offended. 

IV. As the protestation entered in the Synod of Philadelphia, 
Ann. Dom. 1741, has been apprehended to have been approved 
and received by an act of said Synod, and on that account was 
judged a sufficient obstacle to an union ; the said Synod declare, 
that they never judicially adopted the said protestation, nor do 
account it a Synodical act, but that it is to be considered as tha 
act of those only who subscribed it; and therefore cannot in its 
nature be a valid objection to the union of the two Synods espe- 
cially considering that a very great majority of both Synods have 
become members, since the said protestation was entered. 

V. That it shall be esteemed and treated as a censurable evil, 
to accuse any member of heterodoxy, insufficiency, or immorality, 
in a calumniating manner, or otherwise than by private brotherly 
admonition, or by a regular process according to our known 
rules of judicial trial in cases of scandal. And it shall be con- 
sidered in the same view, if any Presbytery appoint supplies 



ex APPENDIX. 

within the bounds of another Presbytery without their concur- 
rence ; or if any member officiate in another's congregation, with- 
out asking and obtaining his consent, or the session's in case the 
minister be absent ; yet it shall be esteemed unbrotherly for any 
one, in ordinary circumstances, to refuse his consent to a regular 
member when it is requested. 

VI. That no Presbytery shall license or ordain to the work of 
the ministry, any candidate, until he give them competent satis- 
faction as to his learning, and experimental acquaintance with 
religion, and skill in divinity and cases of conscience ; and de- 
clare his acceptance of the Westminster Confession and Cate- 
chisms as the confession of his faith, and promise subjection 
to the Presbyterian plan of government in the Westminster Di- 
rectory. 

VII. The Synods declare it is their earnest desire, that a com- 
plete union may be obtained as soon as possible, and agree that 
the united Synod shall model the several Presbyteries in such 
manner as shall appear to them most expedient. Provided nev- 
ertheless, that Presbyteries, where an alteration does not appear 
to be for edification, continue in their present form. As to di- 
vided congregations it is agreed, that such as have settled min- 
isters on both sides be allowed to continue as they are ; that 
where those of one side have a settled minister, the other being 
vacant, may join with the settled minister, if a majority choose 
so to do ; that when both sides are vacant they shall be at liberty 
to unite together. 

VIII. As the late religious appearances occasioned much spec- 
ulation and debate, the members of the New York Synod, in 
order to prevent any misapprehensions, declare their adherence 
to their former sentiments in favour of them, that a blessed work 
of God's Holy Spirit in the conversion of numbers was then car- 
ried on ; and for the satisfaction of all concerned, this united 
Synod agree in declaring, that as all mankind are naturally dead 
in trespasses and sins an entire change of heart and life is neces- 
sary to make them meet for the service and enjoyment of God ; 
that such a change can be only effected by the powerful opera- 
tions of the Divine Spirit ; that when sinners are made sensible 
of their lost condition and absolute inability to recover them- 
selves, are enlightened in the knowledge of Christ and convinced 
of his ability and willingness to save, and upon gospel encourage- 
ments do choose him for their Saviour, and renouncing their 



THE PLAN OF UNION, 1758. 



CXI 



own righteousness in point of merit, depend upon his imputed 
righteousness for their justification before God, and on his wis- 
dom and strength for guidance and support ; when upon these 
apprehensions and exercises their souls are comforted, notwith- 
standing all their past guilt, and rejoice in God through Jesus 
Christ; when they hate and bewail their sins of heart and life, 
delight in the laws of God without exception, reverently and dil- 
igently attend his ordinances, become humble and selfdenied, 
and make it the business of their lives to please and glorify God 
and to do good to their fellow men ; this is to be acknowledged 
as a gracious work of God, even though it should be attended 
with unusual bodily commotions or some more exceptionable 
circumstances, by means of infirmity, temptations, or remaining 
corruptions ; and wherever religious appearances are attended 
with the good effects above mentioned, we desire to rejoice in 
and thank God for them. 

But on the other hand, when persons seeming to be under a 
religious concern, imagine that they have visions of the human 
nature of Jesus Christ, or hear voices, or see external lights, or 
have fainting and convulsion-like fits, and on the account of 
these judge themselves to be truly converted, though they have 
not the Scriptural characters of a work of God above described, 
we believe such persons are under a dangerous delusion. And 
we testify our utter disapprobation of such a delusion, wherever 
it attends any religious appearances in any church or time. 

Now as both Synods are agreed in their sentiments concerning 
the nature of a work of grace, and declare their desire and pur- 
pose to promote it, different judgments respecting particular 
matters of fact, ought not to prevent their union ; especially as 
many of the present members have entered into the ministry 
since the time of the aforesaid religious appearances. Upon the 
whole, as the design of our union is the advancement of the 
Mediator's kingdom ; and as the wise and faithful discharge of 
the ministerial function is the principal appointed mean for that 
glorious end, we judge that this is a proper occasion to manifest 
our sincere intention, unitedly to exert ourselves to fulfill the 
ministry we have received of the Lord Jesus. Accordingly, we 
unanimously declare our serious and fixed resolution, by divine 
aid, to take heed to ourselves that our hearts be upright, our dis- 
course edifying and our lives exemplary for purity and godliness ; 
to take heed to our doctrine, that it be not only orthodox but 



Q^[ APPENDIX. 

evangelical and spiritual, tending to awaken the secure to a 
suitable concern for their salvation, and to instruct and encour- 
age sincere Christians; thus commending ourselves to every 
man's conscience in the sight of God ; to cultivate peace and 
harmony among ourselves, and strengthen each other's hands in 
promoting the knowledge of divine truth, and diffusing the 
savour of piety among our people. Finally we earnestly recom- 
mend it to all under our care, that instead of indulging a con- 
tentious disposition, they would love each other with a pure 
heart fervently, as brethren who profess subjection to the same 
Lord, adhere to the same faith, worship, and government, and 
entertain the same hope of glory. And we desire that they 
would improve the present union for their mutual edification, 
combine to strengthen the common interests of religion, and go 
hand in hand in the path of life ; which we pray the God of all 
grace would please to effect for Christ's sake. Amen. 

The Synod agree, that all former differences and disputes are 
laid aside and buried; and that no future inquiry or vote shall 
be proposed in this Synod concerning these things ; but if any 
member seek a Synodical inquiry or declaration about any of the 
matters of our past differences, it shall be deemed a censurable 
breach of this agreement, and be refused, and he be rebuked 
accordingly. 



XXXII. 

THE COLLECTIONS IN SCOTLAND FOR THE POOR AND DIS- 
TRESSED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 

We give two extracts from the MS. Minutes of the General 
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and one extract from the 
MS. Minutes of the Associate Synod (Burger). 

(I.) 
"Act for Collection for Pensylvania 
1760, May 26. Sess. ult. 

" The Committee named to prepare the Draught of an Act for 
a Collection for Relief of the poor and Distressed Presbyterian 
Ministers in the Province of Pensylvania brought in the Draught 
of an Act for that purpose which being read was approven of as 
follows viz. At Edinburgh the twentysixth Day of May One 



THE COLLECTIONS IN SCOTLAND. 



CXIU 



thousand seven hundred and sixty years. Which Day there was 
presented to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland by 
the Reverend Mr. Charles Beatty, a petition from the Corpora- 
tion, for relieff of Distressed Presbyterian Ministers in the prov- 
ince of Pensylvania, the County of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex 
upon Delaware, and a Petition Together with a Memorial and 
Representation from himself bearing, — That the Melancholy Cir- 
cumstances of the Church of Christ, in those parts of the Amer- 
ican Wilderness had long been a Matter of Deep Concern and 
Sorrow to all who have the Interest of the Mediator's Kingdom 
truely at heart : That the servants of our Lord, who labour in 
that Uncultivated part of his Vineyard, have great and uncom- 
mon Difficulty to struggle, arising partly from the Unhappy Dis- 
positions of too many who resort to those places, partly from 
Surrounding Barbarians devoid of the peacefull tractable temper 
which Christianity requires and partly from the situation or low 
Circumstances of their respective Congregations, many of them 
being called to preach the Gospel to the poor, Scattered through- 
out the wide Extended ffrontiers, who are continually Shifting 
their Habitations ; their labour and Danger must necessarily be 
great, while their livings are small and, what is still worse Ex- 
treamly precarious ; though to Day they may have Bread, to 
morrow they may be obliged to Starve, or Earn it with the sweat 
of their Brows. That such Hardships and Difficultys were of 
late Great increased, by a very afflicting Dispensation of Provi- 
dence : an Indian War broke forth ; a savage Barbarous Enemy 
prompted by the perfideous French fell on their peacefull Hab- 
itations, and Time after Time, plundered and robed, Murdered 
and Scalped, without regard to Age or Sex. — That as the ffrontier 
Countrys were mostly settled by people from Scotland and Eng- 
land, who have adopted the Standards of Doctrine Worship and 
Discipline of the Church of Scotland, their Ministers have felt 
the Blow severely ; severall of their Congregations were Entirely 
broken up, and numbers of their people led into Captivity, many 
of whom are in Bondage among the Heathen to this Day, sub- 
jected to the Crudest tortures, and in Danger every Moment of 
the Worst of Deaths : That those who have Escaped with their 
lives, are stript of their all their Houses burnt, the fences De 
stroyed, their Plantations laid Waste, and, to speak within 
Bounds, their Country for Sixty or Seventy Miles, a few Forts 
Excepted, one continued ruin ; and, what afflicts them still more, 



Cxiv APPENDIX 

they are Deprived of the Means of Grace, being bereaved of their 
faithful Pastors, who were obliged to fly from place to place, re- 
duced to the Dilemma of seeking shelter in the innermost parts 
of the province Distressed With War, or to go forth to repell the 
Enemy. — That the Honourable Gentlemen proprietors of the 
Province, being deeply affected with the Calamitious Circum- 
stances of the Inhabitants, Especially those of the Presbyterian 
Persuasion, and sensible that their Reverend Ministers had Dis- 
tinguished themselves by their Loyalty to the best of Kings in 
promoting Religion, Virtue and Industry, Among the people un- 
der their Care, have, out of their great Benevolance and Human- 
ity Erected a Charitable Corporation, by Letters Patent, have 
cheerfully set their shoulders to this Burden, and wall Exert 
themselves to the Utmost ; But finding that all they can do will 
go but a short Way towards raising the sum which it necessarily 
requires they did Nominate and Appoint the foresaid Reverend 
Mr. Charles Beatty humbly to supplicate the Charitable Assist- 
ance of the General Assembly, in behalf of an Lifant Daughter 
of the Church of Scotland, Helpless and Exposed amidst a Vast 
Wilderness, Without whose friendly aid many ffaithfuU Ministers 
of Christ, and Zealous Asserters of British Liberty, will, tis to be 
feared. Languish in Misery and Want ; many Congregations no 
more hear the Glad tidings of Salvation, and Vast Numbers of 
the rising Generation be for ever Deprived of the most inestima- 
ble Blessing, publick Institutions, and Gospel Ordinances. — The 
General Assembly having considered the above Petition and 
Representation, Together with the Certificates and Recommen- 
dations therewith produced, by the said Mr. Beatty Do authorise 
and appoint a Collection to be made at the Church Doors of all 
the parishes in Scotland on the Second Lord's Day of ifebruary 
next, being the Eighth day of that Month in the year One thou- 
sand seven hundred and sixtyone, hoping that a Collection for 
such a pious Charitable Design will meet with that favourable 
reception which its Importance and interesting Nature pleads 
for. The Assembly Do further appoint the Money that shall be 
collected to be paid unto Mr. William Hogg and Son, Merchants 
in Edinburgh to be by them immediately transmitted to the 
Trustees of the Charitable Corporation,, who are hereby impow- 
ered and Directed, in Conjunction with a Committee of the 
United Synod of Philadelphia and New York, to apply such 
sums as they shall receive for the Support and Relief of such 



THE COLLECTIONS IN SCOTLAND. CXT 

Ministers as are, or may hereafter be Called to preach the Ever- 
lasting Gospel among the benighted Indians, or to such Congre- 
gations as cannot afford them sufficient maintinance. And the 
Assembly ordain this Act and Recommendation to be read from 
the pulpits in all the Churches in Scotland, the Sabbath Imme- 
diately preceeding the day named for making the said Collection 
with suitable exhortations." 

(2.) - 

LETTER OF THANKS FROM THE CORPORATION FOR THE RELIEF 
OF POOR AND DISTRESSED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS. 

" 1764, June I, Sess. 8. 
" There was given in a Letter of thanks to this Venerable 
Assembly from the Corporation of the City of Philadelphia for 
the relief of poor and distressed Presbyterian Ministers and of 
their Widows and Children for the Charitable Donation of One 
Thousand two hundred and Eighty four Pounds four Shillings 
and Eleven pence Sterling transmitted them at Sundry times for 
the above purpose; which Letter was read and ordered to be 
recorded. The Tenor v/hereof follows. To the Very Reverend 
and Honourable the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- 
land, The Address of the Corporation in the City of Philadelphia 
for the relief of poor and distressed Presbyterian Ministers and 
of their Widows and Children, Very Reverend and Honourable 
Gentlemen, We the Corporation for the relief of poor and dis- 
tressed Presbyterian Ministers and of their Widows and Children 
beg leave to Express to you the high sense We have of your 
Condescension and Goodness in promoting our pious and benev- 
olent designs laid before you by our Worthy Agent the reverend 
Mr. Charles Beatty. To your extensive Influence and laudable 
Example under the smiles of a kind providence We ascribe much 
of our Success in England and Ireland. The Condition of our 
Numerous Frontier Settlements is still deplorable for want of 
Stated Ministers and Gospel Ordinances. The poverty of many 
of our Ministers and of their Widows and Children is truely dis- 
tressing and these Afflictions were greatly heightened by a Most 
Barbarous and bloody War with the Indian Nations when We 
made the first Efforts for their relief, and applied to our Christian 
Brethren for their Charitable Assistance. From London We 
have had remitteinces to the amount of Twelve Hundred and 
Eighty four pounds four shillings and Eleven pence By Messrs. 



Cxvi APPENDIX. 

Dennis de Berat and Company, which was paid them by Messrs. 
Hogg of Edinburgh, Father and Son in the name of the General 
Assembly of the Church of Scotland ; which sum We thankfully 
accept, and beg leave to Assure you that we shall always endeav- 
our with the utmost fidelity to execute the Trust reposed in 
us according to your pious Intentions mentioned in the Act of 
Assembly for this purpose. We determined to know what sums 
of Money might be Contributed and for what purposes, before 
We began to make any distributions thereof, That We might 
execute every trust according to the directions and designs of 
the Charitable Donors. But since Mr. Beatty's arrival, We have 
contributed five hundred pounds to recover Liberty to some of 
our fellow Citizens and Christian friends, who have long endured 
a most distressing Captivity among Savage and Barbarous Ene- 
mies. We have bestowed a Considerable sum to Relieve a 
Society of Christian Indians that suffered greatly in the late 
Wars ; And we have provided that proper persons be sent with 
all convenient speed to visit and preach among all the frontier 
Inhabitants, and to report how we may best promote the King- 
dom of Christ among them and the Indian Nations in their 
Neighbourhood. We sincerely congratulate you on the prospect 
of a peace so honourable to our most Gracious Sovereign and 
the British Nation, so much for the benefite and safety of these 
Colonies in America, and which must afford so many and such 
delightful opportunities of Enlarging the Borders of Christ's 
Kingdom in these remote parts of the Earth. We rejoice that 
While the fields look white for harvest we are in some measure 
enabled to work as Labourers, and that we may yet confide in our 
Christian Brethren, for their aid in so Glorious and so extensive 
an undertaking. As We presume that it will give pleasure to 
your Venerable Assembly to be made acquainted with our pro- 
ceedings, as we shall ever account it a singular felicity to merit 
your Esteem and approbation, and shall earnestly and constantly 
pray that Christ our Great Redeemer may ever preside in your 
Assemblies and distinguish you with peculiar honours amidst all 
his Churches, We are. Very Reverend and honourable Gentle- 
men, With the most Sincere Esteem and Respect, your most 
obliged and obedient humble Servants, Sealled with our Seall, 
and Signed in our Names and by our appointment at Phila- 
delphia this tenth day of February One Thousand Seven hun- 
dred and Sixty three by (signed) Rev. Cross, Presdt. 



THE COLLECTIONS IN SCOTLAND. (jxvii 

(3.) 

EXTRACTS FROM MINUTES OF ASSOCIATE SYNOD (EURGER). 

Aug. 26, 1760. — "Transmitted likewise from the Com. of Bills 
and read a printed memorial and representation from Mr. Charles 
Beatty minister at Nishaminy in name and behalf of the 
Synod of York and Philadelphia, and of the corporation for the 
relief of poor and distressed Presbyterian ministers in the prov- 
ince of Pa, the counties of New Castle Kent and Sussex upon 
Delaware ; wherein the memorialist shews what great hardships 
these ministers have been and still are exposed unto in preach- 
ing the everlasting gospel and promoting religion in these places, 
both among professed Protestants and likewise among the 
heathen Indians ; that these ministers were exposed to these 
hardships by means of the very small allowances granted for 
their support and otherwise ; whereby their families also were 
reduced to great wants, while they themselves were alive, and 
the yet still greater straits their widows and fatherless children 
were exposed to after their death ; and so claiming the Synod's 
sympathy not only for the present relief of the objects of charity 
above mentioned, but likewise for the support of faithful minis- 
ters, employed in the work of the gospel, and in promoting the 
interest and kingdom of the glorious redeemer for the future, in 
the wilds of America ; all which are more fully set forth in the 
memorial and representation foresaid, — The Synod having con- 
sidered the same together with a letter from the foresaid Mr. 
Beatty to the Synod which was read; as also the report of 
several members who had seen and been satisfied with Mr. 
Beattys credentials, they agreed in recommending it to the 
several sessions and congregations within their bounds, to make 
a collection for the ends above mentioned between this and their 
next meeting; and further appointed that the several Presby- 
teries transmit their Quotas when collected to Mr. Robert Don- 
aldson merchant of Glasgow, to remain in his hand till the 
Synod shall send the money over sea to those in whose favour 
it is collected. Moreover the Synod appointed Mess. James 
Fisher and John McCara to write and have in readiness a letter 
to be sent along with said money." 

Oct. 7, 1763.— "Read a letter from Thomas Allison D.D. Sec. 
to the corporation in the city of Philadelphia for the relief of the 



CXTiii APPENDIX. 

poor and distressed Presbyterian ministers and their widows and 
children, signed in name and b5^orderof the said corporation, and 
sealed with their seal directed to Mess. John ]McCara and John 
Pattison and dated at Philadelphia Feb. 14, 1763 offering the 
sincere and hearty thanks of the corporation, to the Brethren of 
the Associate Synod and to all the charitable and well disposed 
friends who have contributed for spreading of the gospel among 
the Indians; signifying that at all times they would honour the 
brethrens correspondence with them ; and declaring that they 
believed there were not anywhere in the christian churches, any 
number of men who were more unanimous and sincere, in be- 
lieving and professing an adherence to the system of principles 
exhibited in the Confession of Faith, Catechisms, larger and 
shorter. Directory for Worship and form of Church Government, 
professed and authorized by the church of Scotland, than in the 
United Synod of N. Y. & Philadelphia, and which contains 
several other particulars as the letter itself more fully bears. 

" Read also the address of the foresaid corporation to the 
Associate Synod in Scotland, sealed with their seal and signed 
in their name, and by their appointment, at Philadelphia the 
14th day of Feb. 1763 by Robert Cross Pres. and V. D. M. which 
address was endorsed and presented by Mess. McCara & Pattison, 
and sets forth the high sense they had of the condescension and 
goodness of the Synod in promoting their pious and benevolent 
designs laid before them ; and offering the sincere and hearty 
thanks of the corporation to the Synod for their charitable con- 
tributions which they had received ; — promising always to en- 
deavour with the utmost fidelity, to execute the trust reposed in 
them, according to the pious intentions of the Synod, mentioned 
in their letter of advice for that purpose. Also setting forth that 
they had laid a hopeful foundation to provide for ministers 
widows and children, that they had bestowed a considerable 
sum, to relieve a Society of Christian Indians that suffered 
greatly in the late war ; that they had provided that proper per- 
sons be sent with all convenient speed, to visit and preach among 
all the frontier inhabitants and to report how they might best 
promote the Kingdom of Christ among them and the Indian 
nations in their neighbourhood ; with several other particulars 
as the address itself more fully bears — which letter and address 
were received by the Synod with all due respect." 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA. ^xix 



XXXIIL 

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND 
PHILADELPHIA AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, I770. 

This correspondence has been taken from the MS. Minutes of 
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, access to which 
was freely given me in the summer of 1S84, through the kindness 
of Rev. Prof. A. F. Mitchell, D.D., and Mr. Douglas. 

(I.) 
" Letter from the Moderator of the 
Synod of N. York. 

1770, May 29, Sess. 5. 

" There was produced and read a Letter from the Moderator 
of the Synod of New York. The Tenor whereof follows. Rev- 
erend Sir, The Synod of New York, and Philadelphia, being per- 
suaded it will answer many valuable purposes, have come to the 
Resolution of holding correspondence by Letters with the Prot- 
estant Churches in Europe. This they hope will not only be a 
mean of receiving and communicating information, advice or 
assistance on particular occasions, but an expression and testi- 
mony of that Love and Union which ought to subsist between 
one part of the Catholic Church and another, how remote soever 
in respect of situation. Having formed such a Resolution, it 
was natural for them first to turn their eyes to the Church of 
Scotland, to which they are of all others the most entirely con- 
formed, and, from which indeed they may be said to have derived 
their origin. Many or most of the first Presbyterian Ministers 
in this Country had their education in Scotland, and formed 
their infant Societys on the model of your most excellent Con- 
stitution ; and now, that the body has become more considera- 
ble, we continue steadily attached to the same principles. The 
Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms are publickly 
adopted by every Minister, as a test of Orthodoxy at his admis- 
sion, and the laws and practice of the Church of Scotland have 
Chief Authority with us in point of Government. The Churches 
under our Care are scattered over the Provinces of New York, 
New Jersey, Pensylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas, 



Cxx APPENDIX. 

an extent of near one thousand miles. It is but about seventy- 
years since the first Presbytery met in this Country ; the Synod 
now consists of ten Presbyteries, which contain from the Ac- 
counts taken this year one hundred and twenty seven Ministers, 
besides these, there are about two hundred vacancies, that is to 
say. Congregations or Societys formed, altho' not as yet having 
houses built for publick Worship, and depending on this Synod 
for supply ; a great number of these could support Ministers sin- 
gly, if they could procure them, and the rest by joining two or 
three together, and from the rapid population of the Country, 
new Societys are formed every year, and the old increase in 
number. We return thanks to your Venerable Body for the 
great Assistance that has been formerly given by the Church of 
Scotland to the Presbyterian interest in this Country ; what we 
chiefly want at present is Ministers, the demand for them being 
much greater than the supply. We are sensible of the difficulty 
of proposing any particular Scheme for remedying this evil, but, 
perhaps, the Knowledge of our situation in Scotland, by means 
of the present letter, may induce some piously disposed young 
men, of sound principles to visit America, or to make such in- 
quiries as may afterwards be followed by this effect. We shall 
esteem it a great happiness to hear from you, and to know your 
state ; and in the mean time conclude with Praying that Al- 
mighty God may eminently bless the Church of Scotland, and 
that the purity of her Faith and Worship may continue un- 
tainted, and her external privileges be handed down unviolated 
to the latest ages. Signed in name, presence, and by appoint- 
ment of the Synod, by Reverend Sir, Your most obedient, and 
most humble servant, (signed) William Kirkpatrick, Moderator 
of the Synod, addressed. To the Reverend the Moderator of the 
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, to be communi- 
cated. And it having been moved, that a standing committee 
be appointed, first to draw up an Answer to the above Letter, 
and then to continue the correspondence from time to time, to 
consist partly of Members of this Assembly, and partly of other 
Ministers and Elders near to this place, which Motion having 
been considered by the General Assembly, they appointed the 
following Committee to draw up an answer to the above letter, 
and bring the same into this Assembly, and also to bring in a 
Nomination of a proper standing Committee to correspond with 
the Synod of New York viz. Principal Robertson, Doctor James 



THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA, ^xxi 

McKnight, Doctor James Blenshall, Principal Leechman, Mr. 
David Thomson, Doctor John Chalmers, Principal Murison, 
Ministers, Mr. Patrick Boyle, Mr. Sollicitor Dundas, Mr. Alex- 
ander Ferguson, The Procurator, Sir James Cockburn, Provost 
Ingram and Dean of Guild Smellie, Ruling Elders, and appointed 
them to meet in this place at the rising of this sederunt." 

(?) 

" Answer to the Letter from the 
Synod of New York. 

1770, June 4, Sess. Ult. 
" The General Assembly called for the report of the Committee 
appointed to prepare an Answer to the letter from the Moderator 
of the Synod of New York and a nomination of a standing Com- 
mittee to correspond with that Synod, the same was given in and 
read. The Tenor whereof follows. Reverend Sir, The Ministers 
and Elders met in the General Assembly of the Church of Scot- 
land, have considered the letter of the Reverend Synod of New 
York, and Philadelphia, with the attention due to so respectable 
a body. As love and union ought to subsist among all the Mem- 
bers of the Catholic Church, we are persuaded that very happy 
effects may result from a proper correspondence between the 
Protestant Churches in different parts of the world, and shall 
not be wanting on our part to promote this brotherly intercourse. 
It affords us great satisfaction to hear of the prosperity and rapid 
population of the Provinces of New York and Philadelphia, and 
we are deeply affected with the circumstances of such of your 
people as are destitute of the religious instructions which they 
wish to receive, we have no doubt, but that there may be found 
in this Country several young men regularly educated, and well 
qualified by their piety and literature, to undertake the Charge 
of some of your vacant Congregations, and labour among them 
in the work of the Lord. The General Assembly has appointed a 
Committee of Ministers and Elders to correspond with your rev- 
erend Synod, upon receiving proper information from you, con- 
cerning the situation and circumstances of any vacant Congrega- 
tion which you wish to provide with a Minister, this Committee 
will use its endeavv^ur to find a person duly qualified to supply it. 
We conclude with praying that Almighty God may bestow his 
best blessings upon you and upon your people, and that he may 



CXxii APPENDIX. 

give such success to your labours, that they may promote the in- 
terests of religion and virtue, and prove a Crown of joy to you 
in the day of the Lord &c. dated Edinburgh the fourth day of 
June one thousand seven hundred and seventy. Which having 
been considered by the General Assembly they approved thereof 
and the Moderator subscribed the above answer in their presence, 
and the General Assembly appointed all the Ministers of the 
Presbytery of Edinburgh as a Committee to correspond with the 
Synod of New York." 



INDEX. 



Abbot, George 48,50,52, 89 

Abercrombie, Robert 335, 336 

Aberdeen, Scotland. . 137, 198 

Abernethy, John 167, 199, 202, 204 

Ability, natural . . Ixxxviii 

Abingdon, Va 347 

Abington, Pa ...... 171, 237 

Abj uration oath 254 

Academy at New London 304 

Accomac, Va 117, 118 

Acqueboque 314 

Act of Assembly, N. Y., to settle min- 
istry .... 107, 143, 156 

Act, Conventicles 85 

Act, The Five-miles.. 85 

Act of uniformity 83 

Acton near London x)i 

Adair, Patrick 94, 113 

Adams, Eliphalet. 128 

Adopting Act, American . . 205, 216-221, 
222, 232, 233, 236,237, 265, 267, 270, 

272, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 370 

Davies' exjilanation of 308 

Interpretation of 245, 247, 265 

Scotch, 1690 218 

Adoption 24 

" Advice for promoting peace '' 196 

Advocates' library 127, 129, Ixx 

Airies, Scotland 182, civ 

Albany, N. Y. 87, 88, 100, 108, 313, 342, 349 

Alderny. 42 

Alexander, Archibald. .. .304, 305, 307, 326 

David 261, 262, 263, 274, 275, 

Ixxx, Ixxxi 

Joseph 328 

— — Robert Ixxxv 

Alison, Francis .254,261, 262, 263, 267, 

304, 305, 322, 326, xcvi 

Allin, John 121 

Alleine Joseph 324 

Allentown, N.J 237 

Allison, Thomas cxvii 

Alness, Scotland 122 

Alsop, Vincent ...135, Iviii 

Allen, Thomas. xxxii 

American Antiquarian Soc. . . .180, 185, i8g 

Amyraldianism, Dan'l Williams' 134 

Amsterdam 190, cv 

Anabaptists . ..7, 9, 10, 105, 258, xxxv, 

Ixiii, Ixix, Ixxvii 

Anderson, James . 145, 164, I'^S, 173, 

175, 176, 179, 180, 182, 184, ib7, 

192, 197, 215, 216, 23T, 237, 245, 

279,280, 290, 291, Ixx, Ixxiii, Ixxvi, 

Ixxix, Ixxx, Ixxxii, Ixxxiv 

Robert Ixxxiv 

William 176, 

Andover, Mass . xxxiii, 1 ' 



Andrews, Jedediah. .125, 126, 127, 140, 
142, 159, 173, 174, 209, 211,213, 
215, 216, 230, 231, 237, 263, 305, 

liv, Iv, Ivi 

Andres, Edmund 104, 105 

Angel of church of Ephesus xix 

Anglesey, Earl of. 81 

Anglo-Catholic party 5, 12, 14, 27, 

55, 57 ; theories of church gov- 
ernment 51, 52 

Anglo-Hibernus 139 

Annapolis, Port, Maryland 120 

Annan, William 538 

Anne, Queen 185, 287, iiii 

Anne Rundell, Maryland 110 

Annesly, Samuel Iviii 

Anselm 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 

Ante-Nicene church 4, 5, 12 

Anti-Burger Presbyterians in Ameri- 
ca 276 

Anti-Christ, 17 ; enthroned in the 
church ot Rome, 3 ; Anti-Chris- 
tian doctrine. 76 

Antinomianism, 254, 2^9 ; Crisp's 134 

Anti-Subscriptionists in Synod of Phil- 
adelphia 216 

Antrim 115, 139, 141, 164, 202 

Antvv^erp 102 

Apologetical narration 64 

Apostolical succession 2,3, 8 

Appeals from inferior to superior Ju- 
dicatories 209 

Applegarth. Scotland 106 

Appleton, Nathaniel. xc 

Aquinas, Thomas 15 

Arabia Ixi 

Archbishops. 41 

Archdeacons 41 

Argyle civ 

Argyleshire 292 

Ananism 197 

Arius . . __ 195 

Armagh xviii, xxii 

Arminianism .... 16, 23, 24, 34, 50, 187, 204 

Armstrong, James 134, 165, 190, 

194, 205, lix 

James F 352 

Arnot, Andrew 278 

Articles, essential and necessary, 219, 
220. 221, 233, 236, 320, 321 ; extra- 
essential, 236 ; fundameiitsl, 233; 
against Hemphill, 231 ; neces- 
sary, 233, 320, 321 ; non-essen- 
tial 220, 236 

Articles of Perth 49, 50, 56 

■ of Religion, Church of Ire- 
land 49 

Thirty-nine 29, 35,48,52, 62 

(cxxiii) 



CXXIV 



INDEX. 



Ashe, Simeon 80 

Ashley River, S. C 116, 128, xlvi, 

xlvii, Ixix 

Ashurst, Henry. Sir 98, 154, xxxviii 

Assemblies of the church, xii ; classi- 
cal, 65, 66 ; general, 8, 45, 49 ; 
oscumenical, 45, 70; national, s, 
70, 72 ; provincial, 2, 70, 72, 75 ; 

Synodal .. 70 

Assembly, General, of Amer. Presb.Ch. 

362 seq. 
Assembly. General, Church of Scot- 
land, 33, 36, 41, 44, 56, 58, 59, 68, 
74, 161, 169, 178, 179, 182, 183, 
200, 201, 203, 210, 254, 293, 30S, 
323. cii. cxii, cxiii, cxv, cxvl; cor- 
respondence vk'ith N. Y. and 

Phila. . - cxix 

Assembly at Cambridge xxiii 

Assembly's College at Belfast ... 186 

Assembly, Dutch Reformed 341 

at Kxeter 196 

of Marjdand 136 

Provincial, of Lancashire 73, 80 

Provincial, of London, 68, 71, 80, 87 

-N-Y.......... 155 

in Warwickshire i 

Associate Pre.sbyter^' ._ 255 

Associations of Boston, xcvii ; Cum- 
berland, 78 ; Devonshire, 78 ; 
Dublin. 78. 133 ; Essex, 78 ; Mas- 
sachusetts, 133 ; Westmoreland, 

78 ; Worcestershire 77 

Assurance of Faith 20, 21, 24, 25 

Athanasius 13 

Atheism 137 

Atonement i5i 17, 18 

Augustine , 15, t6, 17, 18, ig, 19 

Augustinianism 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 

Awakening, the Great 250 seq 

Backerus. John 103 

Bailie, Robert 60, 74, 92, xxxviii 

Baird, C. W. ... 147, 151, 152, 179, 180, 

187, 242, 2S6, 347 

Balch, Hezekiah 328 

Hezekiah J 328 

Baldernock, Scotland 256 

Ball, Eliphalet 330 

John 24 

Ballykelly, Ireland 188 

Baltimore, Md 172, Hi 

Lord Ill, xlii 

Bancroft, Archbishop 45, 46, 48, 88 

George 87,106,111,148,155, 

. 156, 348, 349, 335 
Baptism, viii ; ceremonies in, 32 : in- 
fants, xxviii, xxix; covenants at, 
262, 274, 279, 2S1 ; Presbyterian 
doctrine of, 100 ; validity of Ro- 
man Catholic 2, 3 

Baptists in Middle colonies, 1759 315 

Barbadoes 105, 115, 117, 118, 154, 

xlv, xlvii, xlviii, xlix 

Barber, Jonathan 251 

Barker, Matthew 200, Iviii 

Barnett, England 192 

Barnsted Downs, S. C 224 

Barrett, Thomas 116, 128, xlvii 

Barrier Act of 1697 356 

Barrowism 92, 95 



Barton, Noah Ixv 

Bartow, John 149, 155, 156, Ixv 

Basset, Xathan. ..223, 225, 226, 227, Ixxxix 

Robert 103 

Barnstable, Mass xxxiv 

Bastwick, John, Dr 51, 64 

Bates, William 81, 82, 135, Iviii 

Bath, England 12,1 

Battle, John lii, liii 

Baxter, Richard.. .24. 73, 77, 78, 79, So, 

81, 82, 83, 84, 95, 98, 112, 
132, 134, 298, xxxviii, xli, xliii 

Baxterianism 134 

Bayley, ]Mr 103 

Beake. Richard gi 

Beal, Alex 120, liii 

Beal, Charles liii 

Beal, James _ 120, liii 

Beal, Col. Ninian 113, 114, 11^, 

120, hi, liii 

Eeall, Ninian, Junior liii 

Thomas, Senior liii 

Thomas, Junior liii 

Beatty, Charles . . 270, 281, 304, 322, 325, 

326, 333, cxiii-cxvii 

Bedford, N. Y 107, 151, 152, 187, 242 

Belcher, Gov 300 

Belfast. . .37, 94, 164, 194, 199, 203, 205, 228 

Belfast Society 202, 203 

Bellamont, Earl of 148, xlviii 

Bellamy, Joseph 251, 259, 282, 283 

Bellingham. Rev. Mr xxxii 

Bennet, Joseph 301 

Philip 109 

Richard 109, in 

William 90, 105 

Berat, Dennis de cxvi 

Berkeley. Sir William .... 109, no, in, 112 

Bermudas 88, 225 

Bernard, Nicholas xviii 

Bertram, William 237 

Berwick on the Tweed 33, 91 

Bethlehem. N. Y 237 

Beverly Manor, Virginia 289, 291 

Beyse, Henrj' 152 

Beza, Theodore 33, 42 

Bibb, Thomas Iv 

Bible, the only rule of faith 197 

Bishop, John 104, xxxv 

Bishops, diocesan, 187 ; in a Presby- 
tery, 41, 44, XXV ; and Presbyter 
one in Scripture. 2, 75, 77 ; 
American dread of, 345 ; over- 
thrown in Scotland 56 

Black Acts 45 

Samuel 328 

Blackman, Adam xxxv 

Blackstock, Battle of 353 

Blake, Joseph 223 

Blaikie, Alex 130, 188, 335, 337, 349, 

^, . T 352, 359 

Blair, James 119 

John 270, 304, 321, 322 

Robert .. 94 

Samuel, 237, 238, 244, 256, 257, 259, 

263, 266, 267, 270, 296, 304, xciii, c 

Blenshall, James cxxi 

Blinman, Richard _ xxx, xxxii i 

Block House, Georges River 300 

Blood Plot 1x3, 141 

Blount, Mr 193 



INDEX. 



CXXV 



Blue Ridge _. 292 

Bodily commotions 318, cxi 

Boehm, J 311 

Boel, Dominie 240 

Bohemia Manor, Md 193, Ixxxvii 

Bolton, Robert 90, 105, 152 

Bond, of Barbadoes xlviii 

Bondet, Rev. Mr 148, 149, 155 

Bonrepos, Dr 108 

Book of Canons 52, 55, 56 

of Common Order.. 31, 32, 55; 

laid aside 68 

of Com. Praj'er..29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 

56, 88, 89, 147, xl ; the taking 

away of 67 

of Discipline, Cartwright's i-xvii 

of Homilies 8g 

of Sports 34, 501 52, 53 

Boole, Humphrey iii 

Boothby, Maine 337 

Boreland, Francis 128 

John 300 

Borthwick, Scotland 116 

Boston 91, no, 116, 123, 125, 126, 

127, 152, 153, 159, 188, 191", 225, 
228, 229, 282, XXX, xxxi, xxxii, 
xxxiv, xxxvi, xxxix, xlv, xlix, 

Ixxx, Ixxxix, xc 

Ministers at 166, 225, xlix 

Thomas 254 

Bostwick, David 282, 324 

Bothwell, Battle of 127 

Bourne, of Mashpee xxxix 

Bowers, Nathaniel 160 

Bowing at the name of Jesus 3^ 

Bowles, Edvvard xh 

Boyd, Adam 191, 262, 352, xcvi 

Andrew 237 

John 140,141,173,231 

William 188,189 

Boyle, Patrick cxxi 

— — Hon. Robert . (;8, xxxviii, xxxix 

Boyse, Joseph.. 165,167, 190, 194, 195, 

204, 205, 207, 215, 217, lix 

Matthew 190 

Bradford, Ebenezer 363 

William 138, xxxiii 

Bradly, Robert Hi, liii 

Bradner, John 171, 173 

Bradshaw, William . . 38 

Brainerd, David .... 302, 305, 307 

-John . .. 302,303,324, 326 

Brain tree. Mass 109, 144, xxxii 

Bramhall, John 52 

Branford, Conn 100, 121 

Bratton, Colonel 353 

Thomas 167, 173 

Bray, Dr. Thomas.. 120, 126, 127, 136, 323 

Hreda 80 

Breed, W. P 348, 351, 352 

Bridgehampton, L. I 178, 314 

Brewster, William 92 

— ^Nathaniel... 105 

Bridge, Thos 123, 159 

William 62 

Bridgewater, Mass 130 

Bridges, Mr 103, xxxiii 

Briggs. Charles A 54, 62 

Bristol, England 164, 1, Ixi 

Me 228 

Broad church party 84 



Broad creek Ixxxvii 

Brook, Benjamin 42 

Brookfield, Mass 159 

Brookhaven, L. 1 105, 106, Ixvii 

Brookland, N. Y io3 

Brotherton tract 303, 325 

Brothers of White Haven 175, 176 

Brownism 10, 43, 44, 77, 90, 95 

Brown, Alex 234 

James 130, 168, 200 

John 255, 276, 277 

John, of Virginia 328 

Saul 108 

Browne, John liii 

W. H 113, 114, xxxii 

BrownrigEje, Bishop 62 

Brunswick, Me. 228 

Bucer, Martin 77 

Bucks, Pa 284 

Budd, John 215,216,! 

Buel, Samuel 31^ 

Bulkley, Peter xxxii, xxxiii 

Bunyan, Andrew 278 

John ....._ _ 53 

Burger Presbyterians in America ... . 276 

Burgess, Daniel 135 

Burials, Preaching at vii 

Burleigh, Lord Treasurer 42 

Burnett, Gov 180 

Dr li 

Burns, Rev. Mr 335 

Burr, Aaron 251, 268, 269, 301, 306 

Burroughs, Jeremiah 62, 63, 76 

Burt, Ireland xliv 

Burton, Henry 51, 64 

Butler, Captain Nathaniel .88, 89 

Byfield, Adoniram 64 

Byram, Eliab 269, 294 

Cainhoy, S. C 225, 227 

Calamy, Edmund 24, 75, 80, 81, 82, 

113, 166, 190, 192, 193, 197, 19S, 

199, 200, 203, 204, 215, 217, xli 

Calder, Scotland 256 

Caldwell, David ... 352 

James 349, 352 

John 257, 290 

Calling, eifectual 24, 25, 260 

Calvert, Secretary in, 

Calvin, John 22, 28, 30, 

Calvinism 16, 20, 22, 23, 24, 51, 

Cambridge, England. . . 41, 46, 62, 87, 
102, 

New England 90, 97, 100, 300, 

xxiii, xxiv, xxvi, xxx, xxxii, Ix: 

platform 95 

Platonists 84 

Cambuslang, Scotland 256 

Campbell, Alex 145 

^ Colonel 353 

Duncan 292 

Campbel, Rev. Mr 139, xlix 

Campbell, Robert xliv 

Campsie, Scotland 256 

Canada xxxix 

Candidates for ministry, education of, 

248. 286 ; examination of . .240, xciii 

Canons of Egbert xk 

Canon of Scripture 6 

Cape Ann xxxiii, xxxiv 

Cod xxxiv 



xli 

40 

53 

124 



CXXVl 



INDEX. 



Cape Elizabeth, Me 229 

Fear River, N. C, 349 ; Forks of. 292 

May Church 172 

Capel St. Chapel, Dublin 205 

Carlile, Hugh 237, 238 

Carlow, Ireland Ix 

Carmichal, Gcrsham Ixxxv, Ixxxvii 

Carolinas. ...34, 130, 131, 1^8, 162, 163, 
164, 193, 222, 226, 257, 313, 322, 

323, 328, 329, 333, 346, xlvj, xlvii, 
cii, ciii, cxix 

Carrickfergus, Ireland 94 

Carter, Mr., of N. Y 150 

Carter, Rev. Mr., of Woburn xxxii 

Cartvvnght, Thomas.. .6, 24, 31, 41, 42, 

43, 46, 47, 88, 90, i, ii 

Casco Bay, Maine 189 

Case of Prof. Simson l.x.xxviii 

Case, Thomas 81, 82 

Castel, William xxxvii 

Castaven, Robert . .v, 91 

Catchogue, L. I 314 

Catechising, 90; exhortation to, 71; 

catechism, vii ; Makemie's, 117 ; 

schools 136, Ix 

Cathcart, Robert 237, 263, 295, xcvi 

Catholicity, 11-14 ; marks of 19 

Catlett, John in 

Caven, Samuel 262, xcvi 

Cayuga xxxix 

Cecil County, Md Ixxxvii 

Censures, ecclesiastical. ...365, 368, iii, 

xi, xxvi 
Ceremonies, 49, 88, 147; Romish... 32, 35 

Chalker, Isaac 237 

Chalmers, Principal ig8 

Chambers, David 244 

Chalmers, John cxxi 

Chandler, Dr 312 

Charles, King, I. . . .50, 51, 52, 56, 57, 

58, 72, 74 

II 47, 74, 80, 84, 86 

County, Maryland no, 112, xli 

Charlestown, Mass 128, xxxiii, xxxvii 

Charleston, S. C 127, 128, 129, 136, 

163, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 257, 

328, 329, Ixviii, Ixix, Ixxxix 
Charter of N. Y., 1683-4 granted liberty 

of conscience 106 

Chauncy, Isaac 135, 252, 1, Iviii 

Chauncey, Charles xxxiii 

Cheetam Library, Manchester. . . 73, 132 

Cheny, George 234 

Chemung Lake xxxix 

Cherry Valley' 337 

Chesapeake Bay 90, Ixxxvii 

Chester, N.H 229 

Chestertown, Maryland 171 

Chichester, Sir Arthur 185 

Choppin, Richard 199, 205 

Child, Mr _. Ixiv 

Ch ildren of infidels, salvation of Ixxxix 

Chilton, E 119 

Chorepiscopi xxi 

Christ, crown rights of, 8 ; head of the 

church, 7, 8, 11, 14; doctrine of, 

person of, II ; Saviour. . 7 

Christenings Ixviii 

Christiana Creek Ixxxv 

Christianity : of Christ, 5. 7, 13, 16 ; 

genuine, 13 ; his:orical,6, 7, 8, 13 ; 



ideal of, 5; Latin, 15, 16, 17, 18; 
living, 8 ; immature, 15 ; real, 8, 
11: spurious, 11; traditional.... 6 
Church : catholic, 14 ; corruption of, 7, 
18; government must adapt it- 
self to circumstances, 79 ; gov- 
ernment by divine right, 69 ; 
government, ideal system of, 
5; the kingdom of Christ, 8; 
Anglo-Catholic theories of, 52 ; 
officers to be elected by the So- 
ciety 368 

Ancient .. 8, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19 

of England, 51, 59, 105, 148, 15s, 

Ixxii; encroachments of in Amer- 
ica, 344 ; in Middle colonies 1759. 315 

— - of Eph esus xix 

of Geneva 333 

Greek i, 11, 12, 14, 15 

of Ireland 52 

Latin 14 16, 17, 18 

Mediaeval 7, 18 

Oriental 15 

of Palatinate 287 

Roman Catholic 12, 17 

of Scotland, 61, 63, 178, 184, 207, 

255t 276, 277, 280, 290, 333. Ixxi, 

Ixxii, ci, civ 

of Switzerland 333 

Western 15.16, l8 

Civil establishments opposed by Pres- 

bj'terians 346 

status of Presbyterians in N. Y. . . 2S6 

Clapp, President 305, xcvii 

Clarendon, Lord 164, xxxviii 

Clark, Dan Ixv 

James 175 

J. T Ix-x 

Samuel 81, 82, 194, 195, 206, 230 

Thomas 339 

Clarke, Matthew 228,230 

Classes, Albany, 342 ; Amsterdam, 284, 
285, 286, 287, 311, 312 ; Hacken- 
sack, 342 ; Kingston, 342 ; Lan- 
caster, 73 ; New Brunswiclf, 342 ; 

New York 342 

Clayton, Thos 125,127,136 

Cleaveland, Colonel 353 

Clement, John 192 

Clergy, convocation of 48, 52 

Cobbett, Thomas ... .xxxiii 

Cobham, Rev. Mr 234 

Coccelus 23^ 

Cockburn, James, Sir cxxi 

Coetus, German Ref., 311, 312, 316, 
342 ; Dutch Reformed, 286, 287, 

312, 341 

Cohanzy, N. J 123, 159, 171, 188 

Cokayne, George Iviii 

Coldin, Alexander 161 

Cole, Daniel Iviii 

Thos 135 

Colleton County, S. C 163,223 

Colman, Benjamin. . 124, 141, 153, 209, 
213, 215, 216, 225, 251, 257. 258, 

259, 300, xlix, xc 

Coleman, Thos. 62 

Collections, national, 323; for College 
of .\'ew Jersey, ci, cii; for Presby. 
ministers in Pa., cxii ; for Soci- 
ety of Propagation of Gospel 



INDEX. 



CXXVU 



in New England, 98 ; for S. P. 
C. K 298 

College of New Jersey, 246, 297, 315, 
317, 326, 327, 331, 332, 34i< 349; 
founded, 306 seq.\ aided from 

Great Britain 307 seq. 

Colloque 43 

Columbia, British xxxix 

Commission of Synod of Phil., 231, 

245; of General Assembly 128 

Commissary, Ecclesiastical 136 

Comprehension, Ecclesiastical 27, 289 

Common Council, N. Y., Minutes of, 

179, 180 

Commonwealth party 35 

Communion, admission of children 

to, ix ; terms of 262, 367 

Conant, John 81 

Roger 93 

Concord xxxii 

Confederation 355 

Conferences xiv 

Conference, Union, of 1785 361 

Conferentie 313, 341 

Confirmation 49 

Conformists 83 

Congregationalism, i, 2, 93; in New 
England, 104, 206, 343; at Ply- 
mouth, 93; influence upon Amer- 
ican constitution, 356; mPa.,17; 

way of. 76 

Congregational Fund, London 171, . 

224, Ivi, Iviii, lix 

Congress, Continental 350,351, 352 

Conn, Hugh 172,173,215,216, 237 

Connecticut Farms, N, J 237 

cojony 97,121,180,183, 258 

ministers 159, 166, 182, 183 

river ... xxxiv, xxxv, xxxvi 

Conscience, invasion of rights of, 227, 

247; liberty of 27 

Consensus of fathers 12 

Consistorial system i, 2, xi 

Consociation of churches 133, 330, 

xxviii, xxix 

Constitutions, Ecclesiastical xxii 

Constitution of Amer. Pre.sb. Church, 
369; of Dutch Reformed Church, 
361; of German Reformed Church 362 

Consubstantiation , 22 

Contrition 21 

Convention of Associated Presbyteries, 
363 ; of Presb. and Congrega. 
churches, 330, 331 ; synodical, at 

Dartmouth, 1792 359 

Conversion. 240; necessity of 231 

Cookson, Thos 275 

Cooper, Samuel 257, 259 

Robert 326 

William xc 

Coot, Sir Ch xlviii 

Copeland, Patrick 90, 91 

Cornbury, Lord 148, 149, 150, 152, 

153, 154, 155, 156, 285, xlix, Ixv, 

Ixvi, Ixvii 

Cornelius xx 

Cornwell, William 189 

Corporation in the city of Pa. for relief 

of ministers cxv, cxvii 

Correspondence bet. Protest, churches cxxi 
Correspondents S. P. C. K. in N. E.. 300 



Correspondents of S. P. C. K. in N. Y. 301 

Corry , Herbert Ivi 

Corwin, E. T. . . 103, 249, 285, 286, 354, 360 
Cotton, John.. 99, 128, 129, xxiii, xxx, 

xxxi, xxxii, xxxvi. xxxix 
Councils, fallibility of, 6 ; not tne 
rule of faith, 6; successors of 

the apostles xxvi 

Council of Carthage xx 

Council, Congregational . 229 

ex parte 229 

Councils, monthly xxvi 

Ecumenical 2, 12, 13, xxvii 

Covenanters, 35, 85, 344, c ; in Amer- 
ica, 273 seq.\ Scottish 56, 57 

Covenant, national 45 

Theology of Holland 54, 239 

vi'ith Adam Ixxxix 

Covenants, doctrine of the 54 

Coverdale, Miles 30 

Cowpens, S. C 353 

Cox, Daniel, M.D 123 

Craig. Gilbert 224 

John — 45, 241, 262, 291, 294, 328, xcvi 

-_ Robert xcvi 

Craighead, Alexander ...237, 247, 261, 

262, 263, 274, 275, 278, 283, 328, c 

Robert 205 

Thos.. 115, 119, 185, 205, 216, 231, 

n , A ^ 237, 274 

Cranford, James 75 

Cranmer, Archb 40 

Crawford, Thos 124 

Credentials of Presbyteries 233, 234 

Creeds, Christian 12, 13, 6i 

Crisp. Dr 134 

Crisswell, James 328 

Cromwell, Henry no 

Oliver 35i 73> 74, 75, 79 

Richard 79 

Croskery, Thomas 185 

Cross in Baptism 32, 33 

John 237, 245, 247, 262, 274 

Robert 187, 208, 210, 231, 237, 

242, 254, 262, 267, 305, 322, Ixxviii, 

xcvi, cxviii 

Cudworth, Ralph 84 

Cumberland 77, 78 

Cumbernauld, Scotland 256 

Cummings, Alex 279, 281, 346 

Cunningham, John . .32, 33, 35, 45, 46. 

58, e8, 74, 210 

Cuthbertson, John 275, 341 

Cyprian xx 

Dagleish, Alex 128 

Dale, Sir Thomas ... 87 

Danforth, Gov 125 

Danfurth, Master .xxx, xxxi, xxxii 

Dane, Master xxxiii 

Dalton, Master xxxiii 

Dan ner, Joseph ^..Hx 

Darien, Georgia 329 

Isthmus of 128 

Dartford, Kent 193 

Davenport, James 251, 258, xxxv 

Davis, Samuel. 123, 124, 127, 130, 140, 158 
Davies, Samuel. 259, 281, 296, 297, 307, 

308, 309, 328, cii, ciii 

Davy, Mr xliii 

Day of fasting and prayer 109 



CXXVIU 



IM)EX. 



Deacons. 70 ; duty of, Hi, x ; Puritan 

doctrine of. 41 

Dean, William 204 

Deane, John 224,225 

Dearg i36 

Declaration concerning ecclesiastical 

affairs 81 

from Breda _. So 

of Independence supported by 

Presbyterians 351 

on kneeling 33 

of New Home Policy ... 84 , 

Act of 1736 235, 267, 271, 320 

Dedham xxxi, xxxii 

Deed of gift of Ninian Beal. . . . 120, Hi, liii 

Deism 231, 238 

Delaware. . .123, 130, 140,151, 252. 258, 306 

Delaware Bay xlvi 

Delaware River 302 

Deliius. Dr... 108 

Delusion 258 

Denham. Ihomas .. 105 

Dennistoun. William 115 

Denton, Richard .. .94, 102, 103, 104 

Deposition Hi 

Derr>- 205 

Devonshire 78, 132 

De.xter, Henry M 93, gu 95i xxiu 

Dickinson, Jonathan.. ..160, 176, 177, 
209, 210, 212, 213, 215, 216, 217, 
221, 231, 232, 237, 245, 258, 259, 
260, 268, 269, 299, 300, 301, 306, 

371, c 

Dickson. John 74, 119 

— -^iajor 353 

Difference in non-essentials. 368 

Directory, Cartwright's ii-xvii 

Directory of the Church of Scotland, 

Ixxi, Ixxiv 

Director}- for Ordination 64 

Discipline, ecclesiastical, 317, 3x3 ; 
Cartwright's Book of, 43, H, xvu ; 
circumstantials of, 209 ; Scottish, 
first book of, 40 ; second book 
of, 44 ; form of, 370 ; moral and 

spiritual. ... 369 

Dissen ters 64, 134, 155 

Disunion, evils of 78 

Divinity of Jesus Christ loS 

Divinity School at New Brunswick, 

plan of 360 

Divisions in the Church 246 

Dobbin. Alex 341 

Doctrines, indispensable 310.320, 321 

Doddridge 324 

Donaghmore 190.205 

Donaldson. Robert i6g, cxvii j 

Donegal, Countess of, 194 : Marquis of 1S5 ■ 

Dorstius, G. H 248, 234, 2S7. 288, 311 I 

Dorchester. S. C 12S, 163, 190 | 

England 93 ' 

N, E 329, .xxxii i 

Dorsetshire 77, 78 i 

Doughtj-, Francis. ...100, loi, 102, 103, i 

104, III, 112, 113, 114 

Douglas, Robert . 74 ! 

Down. Ireland 115, 141 | 

Dover, England 80' 

N. E .xxxiii ■ 

Hundred, Del 124- 

Dorwell, John 126 , 



Downham, Bishop 5a 

Drake, Jno \xv 

Drisius. Samuel loi, 103 

Drogheda 134 

Drunkenness Ixxu, bcxv 

Drummond, Thomas xliv 

Drummond.ou ..... itS 

Dublin ...47,48, 49, 6t, 78, no, 115, 
123, 132, 134, 135, 164, 167, 170, 
1S4, 190, 1^4, 195, 205, 215, 298, 

333. fix, Ix 

Dublin ministers 167, 195, 33:} 

Du Bois, Benj 354 

Dudley, Thomas, Gov xxx, xxxii 

DufBeld. Geo ..325, 352, 359 

Dunblaine 122 

Dundas, Solicitor. cxxi 

Dundonald, Ireland 186 

Dungannon, Ireland 208 

Dunbar, George 49 

Dunlap. Samuel 337 

Dunlop. WiUiam 127 

D unn , William l.xvui, l.xLx 

Dunse. Scotland 161 

Dunster, Henry xxxii 

Dutch Reformed Church 152, 239, 

24S, 24Q ; origin in America, 
285. 286 ; condition in 1759, 315 ; 
in 1775, 342 ; sustains Am. Revo- 
lution, 353 ; ministers of. Lx.wii 

Duplin, N. C 292 

Durand, William 110,111,114, ^^o 

Durant, George m 

Duxbur)', Mass xxxiii 

E.^GLES. WiLLLVM 279 

Eagle's Wing 94 

Eaglesham and Eastward 127 

East Chester, N. Y..105, 107, 148, 149, 

187, Ixv 
Easthampton, Long Island, N. Y..103. 

109, 177, 314, X.XXV, Ixvu 

East Jersey, province of., 122, 131 

Eaton. George Iv 

Ebenezer. Georgia Ixi 

Ecclesiasticism 8.9, 238. 272, 314 

Echlin, Bishop 49 

Edisto Island, S. C 223,224, 329 

Edinburgh. . .32, 33. 44, 45, 46, 49< 55, 
58, 116. 13Q. 256, xx-xviii, .\lv. Ixx, 

l.xxxix, cii, cvii, cxii, cxiv, cxxii 

Edinburgh. Bishop of 55 

Edmund. Rev. Mr 340 

Edmundson Archibald 120, liii 

William 114, 158 

Education for the ministry cii 

Edward YI. . . 33 

Edwards, Jonathan. . 181,250,251,257, 

259, 260, 261, 307 

Morgan liv 

Thomas 64 

Egbert, Archbish op xx 

Egypt Ixi 

Elder, John. 262, xcvi 

Elders, duty of. iii, .x ; election of, 282 ; 
sent by Christ, xxv ; superiority 
of some over others, .x.xv ; suc- 
cessors of the apostles xxvi 

Ruling, 64, 70. 96, 102, 103, 166 ; 

among Indians, .xxxi.x ; in Amer, 
Revolution 353 



INDEX. 



CXXIX 



Elders, Teaching q6 

Eldership, Congregational... 66, 70, 71, 85 

Election, doctrine of. 22,23,25,68 

Eliot, John .... 94, 97, 98, 99, 103, 116, 
302, XXV, xxvi, xxvii, xxix, xxx, 

xxxi, xxxii, xxxvii, xxxviii, xxxix 

— — Robeit Hi 

Elizabeth, N. J..105, 122, 123, 160,176, 

269, 271, 306, 330, 352 

City, Va 88, 90 

Isles 97 

Queen 3°' 3i, 3^i 45. 49. ". ^'^i 

River, Va. . 117, 118, 119, 139, 140, 

165, xlv, xlvi, xlvii 

Elmer, Daniel 263 

Emanuel College, Cambridge 194 

Emlyn, I homas. . igo, 194, 195, 202, 206, lix 

Endicott, John xxx, xxxiii 

Enniscorthy, Ireland . . 133, 161 

Enthusiasm, 251, 258 ; in Virginia, ... 295 
Episcopacy, 40; diocesan, 77; divine 
right of, 58, 76; High Church, 
81 ; Knox's view of, 45 ; Mel- 
ville's view of, 45 ; moderate, 80; 
reformed, 77; re-established in 
Scotland, 85 ; Ussher's reduction 
of, xvii, xxii ; in Westminster 

Assembly .. 62 

Episcopal Ch. America, 323; weak in 

1775, 344 ; in N. York 145, 156 

Erastians in Westminster Assembly, 

62, 63, 70 

Eriswell, Suffolk xxxvi 

Erskine, Ebenezer 254, 255, 256, 276 

Ralph _ 254, 256, 276 

Espousing before marriage ix 

Ethics, Biblical 53 

Evangelical churches of Germany 4 

party 84 

Evangelization, 260; of Virginia, 313; 

of frontiers 272 

Evangelistic work 328 

Evans, David 160, 173, 209. 237, 294 

John 192, 200, Ixxxvi 

Samuel 294 

Thomas 193,210,237,256 

Evelyn, Sir John 66 

Ewer, Nathaniel 337 

Ewing, John 326 

Examination of candidates, 213 ; of 

ministers v 

Excommunication, iii ; method of xii 

Exercise and addition 142 

Exon, England 132 

Exposition of Holy Scriptures v 

Exeter, England . 195,196, 197 

N. H xxxiii 

Fainting fits 319, cxi 

Faire Meade, Mass xxxii 

Fairfield, Conn.. 105, 123, 124, 127, 151, 

177, xxix, xxxv 

ministers 151 

Faith, 231,260; Protestant doctrine of, 

20, 21 

Faldo, John Iviii 

Farell, Guillaume 40 

Farrar, Bishop 30 

Fasting, ix ; day of v 

Fathers, Christian 12, 13 

Featley, Doctor . 62 



Ferguson, Alex cxxi 

Andrew 139 

Festivals of the Church 49 

Field, John 42, 43 

Fifeshire 119 

Fifth Monarchy men 258 

Finly, Samuel 257,270,281,304,322 

Fisher, Edward 254 

Hugh . . 189, 190, 222, 223, 226, 227, 329 

James 255, 276, cxvii 

Fisk, John xxxiii 

Fitch, James 300, xxxiv 

Fitzgerald, Edward ,189,228 

Flatbush, L. 1 108 

Flavel, John 251, 252 

Fletcher, Gov.. .106, 143, 144, 146, 147, 

148, 285 

Seth 121 

Flint, Master xxxii 

Florida 34 

Flushing, L. I loi 

Foering, C. F 354 

Fogg, Ezekiel 105 

Foote, Wm. H. .242, 289, 290, 291, 292, 

294, 308, 328, 348, 352 

Force, Peter .. 154 

Fordham, Jonah 104 

Joseph 102, 104, -xxKV 

Formalists 240, 272, 314 

Fort Drummer, Connecticut 300 

Fort Pitt 325 

Fort Richmond 300 

Fort St. George Ix 

Foster, James 194, 230 

Captain xlviii 

Fowler, Jeremiah Ixv 

Fox, George 114 

Franklin, Benjamin 231 

Frazer, James 130 

John 122 

Freehold, N. J 140, 151, 159, 160 

Freetown 185 

Frelinghuysen, J, H 239 

Jacob 239 

T, J 240, 242, 248, 284, 286, 287 

French Reformed Churches. . .152, 315, 

342, Ixxvii 

Froligh, Solomon 361 

Fryar, Nathaniel Iii 

" Fund for Pious Uses " 174 

Gairney Bridge 276 

Gargunnock, Scotland 256 

Gai aker, Thomas 78 

Gellatly, Alex 278,283, 338 

Gelston, Samuel, 177,186,289 

General Fund of Dublin. .133, 164, 165, 

188, 191, 298, li.x, Ix 

General Fund, London 132, Ivi, Ix 

Geneva 22,30,42, i 

Georgia . ._ 328, 355, 362 

George, King 290,350 

German Reformed Church,. . .248, 287, 

3". 342, 344. civ 

Germans from Palatinate 344 

Giffing, David Ivi 

Gillespie, George.. 60, 171, 173, 191, 208, 
228, 231, 237, 246, 247, 248, 250, 

263, Ixxxii, Ixxxiv, Ixxxv 

Patrick . 74 

William 192, 193 



cxxx 



INDEX. 



Gillett, E. H 128, 251, 252, 271, 324, 

^.„. T , 3291352, 363 

Gillies, John 255, 258 

Gilmore. Rev. Mr. , of Mass 338 

Gibb, Adam 277 

Glascow, Patrick 237, 238 

Glasgow 56, 127, 130, 168, 169, 175, 

176, 202, 203, 206. 256, Ixxi, 
Ixxx, Ixxxi, Ixxxiii, Ixxxiv, 

Ixxxv, Ixxxvi, Ixxxvii, civ 

Gloucester, Mass xxx, xxxiii 

Glover, Rev. Mr., of Virginia.,,., 87 

Goetschius, J. M 287 

Golding. William 90, 91 

Gooch, William 290, 291, 294, 295 

Good Works, doctrine of 21 

Goodwin. John 64 

Thomas 62, 63 

Gookin, Daniel , 109 

Goose Creek. S. C Ixvii, Ixviii 

Gordon, Patrick 138 

Gouge, Thomas 81 

^Villiam 71, 87 

Gould, Ebenezer. .... ., 237,314 

Gowan, Rev. Mr 167 

Grace, Augustinian doctrine of, 15, 21 ; 
Calvinistic doctrine of, 21 ; ef- 
fectual, 23 ; electing, 23 ; evi- 
dences of, 240 ; experience of, 
260 ; irresistiljle, 23 ; Lutheran 
doctrine of, 21 ; prevenient, 23, 
24 ; R. C. doctrine of, 17 ; work 

of cxi 

Graham, Col 149 

Graham, Chauncy 330 

Grand River, Canada xxxix 

Granger, Thomas 71 

Grant, ihomas 179 

Green, Captain xlvii, xlix 

Daniel Ivi 

Jacob 349, 352, 362, ^63 

John Iv, Ivi 

Greenhill, William 63 

Greenwich, Conn. 151, xxxv 

Griffith, George 135, 294, Iviii 

Groningen, Holland 239 

Grover, Joseph 363 

Guernsey 42, 43, 88, 89 

Guilford, Connecticut xxix, xxx, xxxv 

Gunn, Alex 341, 360 

Gurnet Point, Mass 94 

Guthrie, James 74 

Hackensack, N. Y 342 

Hackett, Dr 62 

Hadley, Mass 159 

Halifax, England 102 

Hall, James 352 

Joshua liii 

HalJiday, Samuel 205 

Hallet, Mr xlvii 

Hamilton, John. 175, 299, Ixxxvii 

Paul. 223, 224 

Hammond, Dr 62 

Hampton Court conference 48 

John... 119, 139,140, 142, 152.153, 

162,273, Lxxvi, Ixxvii, l.xxviii, Ixxxvi 

Mass xxxiii 

William 139 

Hanover, N. J 237,362 

Va 296 



Handy.I.W.K 119 

Hardenbergh, James B 354 

Harker, Samuel 321 

Harriman, John 105,122, 123 

Harrison, Edmund 154,161, 164 

Thomas 109, no, xl 

Hart, John xliv, xlvi 

Hartford, Conn 99, xxxiv, 1 

HartweU, Henry 119 

Har^'ard College. 90, 104,105, 106, 107, 
121, 122, 128, 144, 146, 225, 299, 

304, xxxii, xlv, Ixxxix 

Harvej"-, Joseph 229, 230 

Hatherley. Devonshire 193 

Hawkins, Ernest 125, 136, 352 

Haverhill, Mass xxxiii 

Hawley, Rev. Mr., of Mashpee xxxix 

Hazard, Nathaniel 279,283, 301 

Heads of agreement, London 132, 133 

Heathcote, Col.. 144, 145, 146, 148, 149, 

15I1 155. 156 

Helaugh, England xli 

Hempstead, L, I . . 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 

108. 144, 146, xxxv, Ixv, Ixvi 

Hempton, Rev. Mr., of Burt xliv 

Henderson, Ale.xander. . ..56, 60, 97, xxxvii 

Matthew 338 

Henry, John. .164, 165, 173, 190,273, 

liii, Ixxxvi 

VHL, King xxi 

Robert 328, Ixxxvi 

Hemphill, Samuel 230, 231, 232, 234 

Herefordshire, Wales _. . . .. 171 

Heresy, 60, 61 ; case of Hemphill, 230- 

235 ; case of Harker 321 

Herle, Charles. 63, 64 

Heterodoxy, R. C i5> 18, 19 

Hewatt, Alex 329 

Heyrick, Richard 75 

Kieron, Samuel . xxii 

Higginson, Francis 93 

John 113, 114, xxxv 

High commission, court of.. 44, 51, 57, 89 

Higher criticism xxx 

Highlanders in North Carolina 292 

oppose American Revolution 349 

Hill, John 109 

Matthew.. .112, 113, 114, 119, 120, 

124, xli, xliii, lii 

William 127, 154 

Hillhouse, James 229 

Hingham, Mass 94, 95, 105, 125, xxxii 

Hinchman, Bishop 81 

Hinsdale, Ebenezer 300 

Historic spirit 5, 6 

Hite, Joist .... 289 

Hoart, John . 115, xliv, xlvi 

Hobart, Jeremiah 106 

Joshua 105,106, 17^ 

Peter 94, 105, 106, 125, xxxii 

Hodge, Charles. ..95, 1x9, 131, 164, 211, 
215. 248, 254, 259, 260, 262, 263, 

264, 268 
Hogg, James .•••-.••• ^54 

William civ, cvii, cxiv, cxvi 

Holdsworth, Dr 62, xviii, xxii 

Holidays ix 

Hollis, Lord 81 

Holmes. Robert 167 

Holy Club at Oxford, 239; at Yale 

College. 251 



INDEX. 



CXXXl 



Holy orders 147 

Holy Spirit in conversion, ex; in his- 
to'Ti 5- 7 ; indwelling of, 260; in 
Scripture, 6, 7 ; above the 

church 7 

Honeyman, Israel, junior Ixv 

Hooke, Henry. 188, 191,237, xxx, xxxiv, xxxv 
Hooker, Thomas., .xxiii, xxvii, xxviii, xxxv 

Hooper, Bishop 6, 30, 33, 40 

Hopewell, N. J. 167 

Hopkins, Samuel 326, 327 

Hoph, Rev. Mr xxxii 

Horton , Azariah 237, 269, 302 

Simeon 269 

Horsfield, Isaac 282 

Houghton, Elder 93 

House of Commons 66, 79, 158 

House of Hanover 290 

House of Lords 72 

Houston, George 176 

John 335 

Joseph 191, 237 

Howe, John ... 135, 194, Iviii 

Hoyle, Joshua 61 

Hubbard, John 149, 150, 151 

Hubbel, Nathaniel 237 

Huck's Defeat, S. C 353 

Hudson River xxxv 

Huguenots in America 228, 344, 353 

Hughes, Lewes 88, 89, 90 

Hull, Mass no, xxxi 

Hume, James 278 

Hunt, Joseph Ixv 

Robert 87 

Hunter, Gov 146, 147, 156, Ixxviii, Ixxx 

Hunterian Museum xxix 

Hunting. Nathaniel 177 

Huntington, L. 1 104, 177, 314, Ixvii 

Hutcheson, Alex .. 103,154,237,247, 

250, 263, xxxv, Ixxxii, Ixxxiv, 

Ixxxv, Ixxxvii 
Hutchinson, Mr 154 

Rev. Mr 338 

Hyde, Lord Chancellor "98 



Idolatry 

Ignatius 

Ibbots, Benjamin 

Inability, doctrine of. 
Independency , 



60 
xix 
230 

23 
58, 91 



Independents, 35, 70, 73, 74, 90, 100, 
xviii ; at Hempstead, 102 ; in New 
England, 145 ; in New York, 
105, 315 ; rigid, 77 ; a schism, 69 ; 
in_ Somers Isles, 90 ; in West- 
minster Assembly 62, 62 

Indians, Eliot, apostle of, xxxi, xxxvii ; 
churches, 99, xxxix ; Christian, 
cxvi, cxviii ; JDelaware tiibe, 325 ; 
in Delaware, 302 ; education of, 
30; efforts to Christianize, xxxviii; 
heathen, cxvii ; on Housatonic, 
301 ; language, acquiring the, 97 ; 
on Long Island, 302 ; Mayhew 
preaching to,xxxiv ; in Martha's 
Vineyard, xxxi ; Methodism 
among, 302 ; missions to, 272, 
297 segf., 303, 310, 324-326; Mo- 
hegan, 324; Oneida, 324; ruling 
elders of, xxxix ; slaves, Ixix ; on 
Susquehanna, 302 ; wars, 322, 



li, cxiii, cxv ; Wheelock's school, 
325 ; Mr. Williams trucking with, 

xxxi, xxxiv 

Indian Town, S. C 223 

Intolerance abhorred . 354, 

Infants, how created, Ixxxviii ; salva- 
tion of Ixxxix 

Inglis, Rev. Mr 351 

Ingram, Provost civ, cxxi 

Inquisitory power 207 

Intrusion of ministers 243, 244, 249, 261 

Ipswich, Mass xxxiii 

Iredell, N. C 352 

Ivy, Thomas 119 

Jackson, Arthur 82 

John 81 

Nathaniel xli 

William 153 

Jacksonsburgh, S. C 223 

Jacob J Henry go 

Jacobites 146 

Jacomb, Thos 81, 82 

Jamaica, N, Y..104, 105, 107, 108, 144, 

149, 151, 156, 177, 315, Ixxxiii 

West Indies 128, 332 

James, John 45, 46, 47, 135 

1 48, 49> 53, 55, 56, 88 

II 86, 104, IDS, 132 

Thomas 103, 109, 128, xxxv 

Island, S. C 163, Ixviii 

Jameson, David 154 

John 278 

Jamison , Robert : 237, 262, xcvi 

James River, Va 291, 294 

Jamestown, Va 87 

Jedburgh, Scotland 161, Ixxxv 

Jenkins, Obadiah 230 

Jenky n , William 80 

Jeremy, W. D Ivi, Iviii 

Jersey, Isle of 42, 88 , 89 

Colony 156, 192, 25-, 256 

Jesuits 76 

Johnson, William 228 

Jones, Eliphalet 105, 178 

John 105, 152, xxxv 

Malachi 171, 173, 209 

Morgan 105 

Samuel Iv, Ivi 

Timothy.. . .^ 269 

Johnston, Commissioner Ixix 

of Warriston 56, 60 

Rev. Mr., N. E. 115, 229, Ixix 

Judgment, private, right of, 226, 321, 

367; divine right of, 223; vindi- 
cated 226, 227 

Justification by faith 20-22, 231, 260 

Jus Divinum 66., 69, 71, 75, 203, 221 

Kanyeageh station, Canada xxxix 

Keith, George... .83, 117, 118, 120, 124, 

126, 127, 137, 138, xlv 

-James 130 

Kennedy, Gilbert 1S6, 234 

Kennedy, Thos 234 

Kent, Elisha 330 

Kerr, James xcvi 

Nathan 359 

Kettletas, Abraham. 352 

Keys of Church Discipline 209 

Kingdom of Christ, the Church 8 



cxxxu 



INDEX. 



King's College 313, 341, 342 

Mountain, S. C 353 

Kicft, Gov loi 

Kilsyth, Scotland 256 

Kilduskland, Scotland . 292 

Killen, W. D 37, 94, 113, iS, 

KilTnartin, Scotland 292 

Kilpatrick, James 199, 202, 204, 205 

King, Bishop 190 

Knigs County, N. Y 108 

Kingston, N. Y 108, 342 

Kinderhoeck, N. Y loS 

Kin loch. Rev. Mr 339 

Kippen, Scotland 122 

Kinneir, Joseph Ixxxvi 

Kirkintolloch, Scotland 256 

Kirkland, Rev. Mr 326 

Kirkpatrick, William cxx 

Kneeling at the altar 32, 33, 34, 49, 89 

Knowles, John 109 

Knox, John 6, 30, 31, 32, 33, 40, 45, 68 

Knox's brigade 352 

Koelmann, Jacob 239 

Kuper Island, British Columbia . . . xxxix 

Laing, Robert 193, 210, Ixxxv 

Laud, William 50, 51, 52, 55, 89, 109 

Lamb, Joseph 178, 270, xlvi 

Lambie, Arch 293 

Lancaster, Pa 132, 275 

Lancaster, Mass 105 

Lancastershire, England 50, 73 

Langford, Sir Abraham lix, Ix 

John Ill 

Lanning, Eliza 127 

Laracor, Ireland. . .. 185 

Latitudinarians 84 

Latta, James 329 

Latimer, Hugh 30 

Lawson, Anthony 139, xlvi 

Robert 167,170, 173 

Layfield, George 117 

League and Covenant, Solemn ,56, 

60, 74, 80, 83, 274, 275 

Lebanon, Conn ... 324 

Lechford, Thomas 100 

Lee, Samuel 123 

Leechman, Principal cxxi 

Leeds, England 190 

Lefroy, J, H . . 89 

Legalism 254 

Legislative power of Synods.. 245, 246, 

265, 266, 363 

Leicester, Earl of. 42 

Leighton, Bishop 85 

— ^ Alex 51 

Leinster, Ireland 78 

Le Jau Ixvii 

Le Mercier, Andrd 228, 229 

Lenox Library, N. Y xlv 

Leslie, Field-Marshal 57 

Letters : of advice to Exeter, 197 ; of 
James Anderson, Ixx-lxxxiii ; of 
Matthew Hill, xli-xliii ; of Dunn, 
Ixviii ; of Gillespie, Ixxxiv ; of 
Hutcheson, Ixxxvii ; of Johnston, 
lxix_; of Le Jau to Mr. Stubbs, 
Ixvii ; of Makemie, xlv-1 ; of 
Marsden, Ixviii ; of McNish, 
Ixxxiii ; of Morgan, Ixi-lxiv ; of 
Stevens, Ixviii ; ofWm. Steward, 



lxxx\i ; of Synod of Phila. to 
Pres. Clap, xcvii-ci j of thanks 
from corporation in City of Phila. 
cxv ; of Benjamin Woodbridge. 1-lii 
Leveridge, William ........ 97, 104, xxxiv 

Lewes, Delaware ...124, 127, 161, 186, 254 

Lewis, Amzi 363 

Leyden, Holland 92 

Leydt, John 354 

Liberty of; conscience, 347, xlii ; of 

worship 38 

Lifford, Ireland 115 

Lightfoot, John 59, 62 

Lincolnshire 93 

Lingen , East Friesland 239 

Linhaven, Va xlvi 

Lind, Rev. Mr 341 

Liston, William xliv 

Liturgy of Church of England, 155 ; 
of Guernsey and Jersey, 88, 89, 
Lewes Hughes, 88 ; order of, v- 
vi ; Puritan opposition to, 35; 
Puritan tendency towards .... 39 
Literature, religious, distribution of... 323 

Liveseys, Jonathan 118 

Livingston, Gilbert 178, 179, 180 

John H 341, 342, 354, 360, 361 

John, Rev. 49,94, 178 

Robert 341 

William, N. Y 313, 347, 349 

William, Rev . .163, 223, 224, 225, 

Ixix, Ixxxix 

Llanmadock, Wales 105 

Loftus, Archbishop 47 

Lady lix 

Log College. 187, 242, 245,246,256, 294, 

304, 305, 306, 307, 317 
London, Bishop of. .. .82, 120, 124, 126, 
136, 138, 145, 146, 148, 151, 

156, Ixxi, Ixxiv 
ministers of 162, 163, 165, 167, 

T. . . , . V,3' ^^/' ^97, 205, 333 

Provincial Assembly of ... 2 

Londonderry, New Hampshire. ...189, 228 

Long Island, N. Y 94, 158, 174, 254, 

302, 314, 315, Ixxvi, i.xxvii 

Lord, Joseph 128, 163, 190, Ixix 

Lord's Supper, exam, for admission. . . 241 

Lorimer, Peter 32, 33, i 

Love feasts 90 

Love, Christopher 74 

Lovelace, Lord 155 

Low Church Episcopalians... .84, 146 ; 

Presbyterians 46 

Lothrop, John . xxxiv 

Luther, Martin 15,19,20,22, 28 

Lutheran church i, 15, 20 

system 2^ 

Lutherans in N. Y. & Pa. in 1759 315 

Lynn, Mass 100, 106, xxxii 

Lynnhaven, Va 116 

Maca.sky, Ireland 188 

MacBride, John 205, 207 

Macgilligan, Ireland 172 

M acGregorie, David 229, 257 

Mackie, Patrick 118 

Mackishan, P. N 293 

Maclaine, Arch . . 234 

MacLenahan, William 229 

Madras be 



INDEX. 



CXXXlll 



Magistrates'power over Synods. 236, 365, 366 

Magruder, Samuel liii 

Makemie, Francis .. 104, 116, 117, 118, 
124, 130, 133, 134, 138, 139, 140, 
141, 142, 152, 153, 154, 156, 158, 
161, 162, 164, 165, 273, xliv, xlv, 

xlvii, xlix, 1, Ixxviii 

Maidenhead, N. J 167 

Maine 228, 355 

Mair, Thos 277 

Maitland, Lord 60 

Makie, Josias 117, 118, 119, 130, 140 

Maiden, Mass xxxii 

Maltby, John 329 

Mamaroneck, N. Y 107 

Manchester, England 73, 132 

N. H xxxiii 

Mand, Rev. Mr xxxiii 

Manhattan Island, N. Y loi 

Manoakin, Md 120, 167 

Mansfield, Thomas cvii 

Manton, Dr 80, 82 

iviarblehead. Mass xxxiii 

Markham, Gov 125 

Markius, John 206 

Marion, General Francis 353 

Marriage viii, ix, Ixviii 

Marrow controversy 207, 254 

Marlborough, Md lii 

Marsden, Richard Ixviii 

Marshall, Alex xliv 

Stephen 24, 36, 60, 63, 66, 136 

William 338, 340, 372 

Marshfield, Mass xxxiii 

Marston, Edward Ixvii 

Martha's Vineyard, Mass 97, xxxi, 

xxxiv, xxxix 

Martin, James 237, 262, xcvi 

John 182, 328, 359 

Martineau, James 165 

Martin's Vineyard, Mass xxxi, xxxiv 

Mary, Queen 86, 132 

Maryland... 34, loi, no, in, 112, 113, 
114, 115, 117, 130, 131, T36, 140, 
165, 168, 190, 192, 252, 254, 258, 
289, 296, 314, 315, 322, 323, 346, 

349, xlii, Ixxxvi, Ixxxvii, cii, cxix 

brigade 352 

Mason, Dr. John 338,360 

Massachusetts 183, 258, 352 

Bay 93> 97i iS4i xxxi, xxxiv 

Hist. Soc xlv, I 

Masson, David 59,66, 84 

Matchatank, Va 118 

Mather, C . . . . 91, 93, 99, 105, 109, 124, 
151, i57i 160, 162, 163, 166, 168, 

17T, 180, 185, 189, xxxviii, xc 

Elcazer 106 

Increase. . . 104, 113, 118, 123, 124, 

126, 129, 132, 134, 144, 145, 147', 

188, 189, xxxviii, xlv, xlvi, xlix 

Nathaniel 134, 135, 314, Iviii 

papers xlv 

Samuel xlvii, xlix 

Warham 106, 107, 148, 149 

Mattabesett, Conn xxxiv 

Matthews, Rev. Mr Ixv 

Mattituck, N. Y 178 

Mayflower .. 92, 94 

Maxwell, William 223, 22.1 

Mayhew, Thomas. 97, 98, xxxi. xxxiv, xxxviii 



Mayo, Richard 200, xxxiv, Iviii 

McCadden, Hugh 328 

McCall, Daniel 352 

McCara, John cxvii, cxviii 

McClemeiit, John 192 

McClintock, Samuel 335 

McCook, Archibald 191 

McCrea, James 270 

William 244 

McCrie, Thomas 43, 45, 46 

McCulloch, William xcvi 

McDowell, Alex 306, 335 

McEwen, John xcvi 

McGee College 139 

McGill, Daniel 167,170,173, 176 

McGregorie, David 229,257,282, 335 

James 189, 228 

McHenry, Francis 263 

Mcllvaine, J. W lii 

McKerrow, John 276, 338, 339 

McKnight, Alex xcvi 

Charles 270 

James cxxi 

Patrick 178, 179, 180, 181 

Robert xcvi 

McLeod, John 329 

McMillan, William 193 

McNish, George. 104, 139, 140, 156, 157, 

158, 162, 169, 173. 174, 175, 177, 

179, 182, l.Kxyiii, Ixx.x, Ixxxi, 

Ixxxiii, Ixxxiv 

McWhorter, Alex 352, 359 

Means of grace 21, 22, Ixxxviii, cxiv 

Mead, Matthew 123, 135, Iviii 

Solomon . 330 

Meath, Earl of 134 

Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina. ... 348 

Mecklenburg Declaration 348 

Medford, Mass 126 

Megapolensis, John loi, 103 

Melville, Andrew 44i 45, 46 

Memorial of Gilbert Tennent, 1734. • . 240 

Merrimack River 94, xxxiii 

Mespat, L. I loi 

Mesopotamia Ixi 

Messier, Abr 240 

Methodism, 84; Calvinistic, 261; dif- 
ferent views of, 317, 318 ; divis- 
ions of, 255 ; evangelism of, 294 ; 
principles of, 241 ; rise of, 238 
seq.; American, doctrines of, 260; 
its theologians, 260 ; a genuine 
revival, 255 ; of Synod of N. Y., C83 

Methodist Episcopal Church 4 

Michaelius, Jonas 285 

Middleburgh, N. Y 103, 104 

Middle Octorara, Pa 274, 275 

Midway, Georgia 329 

Milford, Conn 127, 257, xxix, xxxv 

Millenary Petition 46 

Miller, Alex 328, 339 

Charles l.\xxv 

James 224 

John 107, 108, 337 

Robert 175 

Rev. Mr., of Yarmouth xxxiv 

Ministers, aided, Ivii, Iviii; election of, 
V, xxiv ; from abroad, testimoni- 
als, 333-334 ; lawful calling of, 
•ii ; pastors and teachers, iii ; 
unconverted, 249, 257, xciii ; un- 



CXXXIV 



INDEX. 



worthy, 248 ; education of, 248, 
249, 257, 363 ; struggle for godly, 

242 seq. : divine right of 2, 75 

Minutes of the United Brethren, Lan- 
caster . . _ _ 132 

Missions: to Africa, 327; East Indies, Ix; 
enterprises. 322 seq.; to Indians, 
97 seq.^ 298 seq.^_ 310, 224 seq., 

xxxii seq. ; societies 132, 136, 138 

Mitchell, Rev. Mr 340 

Alexander F .... 36, 49, 51, 54, 68, 

civ, cxix 

Jonathan. xxlx, xxxii 

Moderator of Assemblies. . .77, iv, xiii, xiv 

Moderatism in Scotland 207 

Mohawk station, Canada xxxix 

Valley of the 287, 349 

Monakin, Aid 170, 192 

Moncrief, Alex 255, 277 

Monk, General 79, 80 

Monmouthshire, England 105 

Moody, Joshua 1 

Lady xxxv 

Moore, G. H . . .105, 106, 107, 144, xxvi, xlv 

John 103, 127, xxxv 

Richard 83 

Moorhead, James l.xxxv 

John 228, 229, 230 •(35, 336 

Moravians 239, 259 

More, Henry 84 

Moreton, Bishop 50 

Morgan, Evan Ivi 



General 



■ — - Joseph. .149, 151, 160, 173, 209, 237, Ixi 
Ixiv, Ixv 

MoriceMSS 34 

Morley, Dr 62, 81 

Morris, Col 144, 152, 156 

Morrow, Samuel 353 

Morse, John 107, 108 

Moxon, Rev. M xxxv 

Mompesson, chief justice 150, 156 

Murdock, James 338 

Murison, Principal. 150, cxxi 

Murphy, Henry C loi, 102 

Murray, John 337, 352, 359 

Muskingum.. 325. 326 

Musical instruments, Puritans opposed 

to, 35 ; Westminster view of. . . .. 37 

Muthill, Scotland 256 

Mysticism. 7 

Nairn, Rev. Mr 277 

Nansemond County, Virginia 109, 

no, III, 120 

Nanset xxxiv 

Nantucket 97, xxxix 

Narraganset Bay xxxiv 

Nashaway xxxii 

Natick xxxi.xxxviii 

Nature, laws of 231 

Neal, Daniel 73, 82, 93,94, 109, 114, 199 

Neau, Elias. 152 

Negro slaves Ixix 

NeiU, E.D.87, 83, 100, 100, no, in, 114, xlv 

Nesbitt, John 192,197, 198 

Neshaminy, Pa 187, 242, 304, cxvii 

Neutrals, as to subscription. .. . 197, 199 
Newark, N. J 100, 121, 122, 123, 

160, 177, 210 
Newark, Del 306 



New Amsterdam . . 102, 103, 104 

New Brunswick. N.J 240, 342. 361 

Nova Scotia xxxix 

Newbury, Mass. 94, 95, 335, xxiii, xxiv, 

xxxiii 
Newcastle, Del... 57, 124, 126, 127, 164, 
170, 175, 179, 186, 188,191, 254, 
2S5, Ixx, Ixxi, Ixxiii, Ixxvii, 

Ixxviii, Ixxx, Ixxxv 

Newcommen , Math 82 

New England colleges 161 

Company xxxvi-x.xxix 

description of, bj' Eliot... xxix, xxxvi 

New Hampshire 138,228,345, 355 

New Hanover, N. C 292 

New Haven, Conn 105, 106, 109, 

124, 126, 127, 257, 330, xxix, xxx, 

xxxiv, xxxv, 1, C 
New Jersey. 130, 140, 159, 161, 168, 183, 
184, 252, 254, 258, 300, 307, 313, 
3151 3i6,__324,_ 346, 348, 349, ixi, 

Ixiii, Ixiv, Ixxii, Ixxiv, cii, cxix 

brigade 352 

congress of 352 

New lights 242 

New London, Pa., Academy 304, 306 

-Conn 229, xxx 

New Londonderry, Pa 267 

N. E 257, 282 

Newman, Samuel xxxiv 

New measures 242 

New Rochelle, N. Y 148, 155 

New side, 283 ; apology of 1739, 265 ; 
views of subscription, 273 ; view 
of adopting act, 321 ; progress of, 
314; protest of 1740, 265 ; in Vir- 
ginia 294 

Newtown, N. Y.. .. loi, 103, 107, 108, 

153, 161, 177 

N. C... 292 

Newton, Brian 103 

Rev. Mr., of Mass xxx-v 

Ireland 228 

Roger 127 

New York. . 34, 49, 54 93, 99, 100, loi, 
102, 103, 104, 108, III, 121, 130, 
131, 140, 143, 146, 153, 154, 156, 
161, 164, 183, 192, 239, 252, 258, 
279, 281, 285, 289, 300, 301, 313, 
315, 316, 323, 324, 342 346, 348, 
349, 352, 362, 363, xlvi, Iviu, Ixiv, 
Ixv, Ixvii, Ixx, Ixxvi, Ixxvii, Ixxviii, 

Ixxx, Ixxxi, Ixxxiii, cii, cxix 
New Yoik City.. 87, loi, 103, 104, 107, 
108, 149, 152, 154, 156, 176, 179, 181, 
183. 1S4, 210, 240, 252, 278, 283, 
286, 30/13131 335, 336.. 341,. 346, .. 
361, .XXVI, xlviii, Ixxvii 

N. Y. Historical Society 153 

Nicoll, Dr. John 178, 179, 180, 181, 

182, 183, 184, 279, 2S0, 301, Ixxxi, 

Ixxxii, Ixxxiii 

Nicholl, William 154 

NichoUs, Dr. 40 

Nicholet, Charles 113, 114 

Nicholson, Gov 120 

— - Dr 62, 127 

Nonconformists. .31, 39, 83, 85, 94, 112, 134 
Non-subscribers . .. 197, 202, 205, 227 ; 
Iri.sh, 208, 215 ; in London, 215 ; 
New England 213 



INDEX. 



CXXXV 



Norfolk, England 105 

Virginia 109, 119 

Novice, Rev. Mr., xxxiii 

Northampton, Mass 106, 161, 2,'-,d, 256 

Northamptonshire 194 

North Carolina. 111,116, 289, 292,397, 

322, 348, 352, xlvi, ciii 

brigade 352 

Norton, John ..xxxiii 

Norwood, Richard. 91, 92 

Nott, Major Edward 139 

Nottingham, Pa 243 

Nowell, Mr., of Charlestown, Mass.. xx.xii 
Noyes, James. . . .94, xxiii, xxiv, xxv, xxxiii 

Nutman, John 237 

Nye, Philip 60, 62, 63 

Oakley, Miles Ixv 

Oath, Burgers', 276, 277 ; Mason's, 276 ; 

renouncing the covenant 83 

O'Callaghan, E. B., M.D iii 

Occom, Samson 324, 325 

Oglethorp, Governor 329 

Oldfield. Josh 197,200 

Old side, 241 ; decline of, 314 ; adopt 
New London Academy, 304, 306 ; 
opposed to the revival, 259, 294 ; 

strict subscriptionists 273 

Onancock. 118 

O'Neal, Hugh iii 

Opeckon, Virginia 289, 291 

Oneida Co., N ew York 325 

Ophett, William liii 

Orange County 108 

Prince of cvi 

Order of the decrees, 24; of salvation. 24 

for reinstatement of Harrison ... xl 

Ordination, xxviii, ex ; certificates of, 
xl, xli, Ixxxix ; episcopal, 21, 83, 
152 ; by imposition of hands, ne- 
cessity of, 75 ; of Makemie, xlv ; 
papal, 2, 3 ; by presbyters lawful 
and valid, 75, 77 ; R. C. valid, 2, 

3 ; sine titulo, 234 ; vows. 

Original sin, doct. of. 

Orme, John 193 

Orr, Robert 167, 173 

William 

Orthodoxy and catholicity, 11, 14; 
dead, 238, 242 ; and Presbyteri- 
an ism, 14; test of 232, cxix 

Oxam, Scotland 161 

Osgood, John 329 

Owen, John 26, 123 

Oxenbridge, John 90 

Oxford 62, 239 

Oyster Bay „ 104 

Pacific act, Irish . . aoo, 205, 207-209, 

215-219 

Pacificatory articles, 1722 216 

: paper 135 

Pacifical letter of the Synod of Ulster. 199 

Palatinate 287 

Palmer, Herbert 63 

Papacy, 16. 17, 18, 29 ; system of i 

Parker, Stephen 300 

Thomas. 94, xxiii, xxiv, xxxiii 

Parochial libraries 136, 323, Ixi 

Parliament, English .50, 56, 57, 60, 68, 

72, 85, 86, xl 



370 
260 
237 
199 

237 



Parliament, Irish 48,57,86 

Long . . 79, 80, 202, xxxvi 

Rump 72, 79 

Scottish 68, 74, 85, 86, 200, 201 

Parsons, Jonathan 335 

Partridge, Ralph xxxiii 

Passive resistance 85 

Pastors, duty of iii 

Pastoral letter of 1775 350 

Patillo, Henry 328, 352 

Patronage 254 

Pattison, John cxviii 

Paul, James 225 

John 237, 238 

Patuxent, Md..,.iii, 114, 119, 120, 193, 

hi, liii 

Peck, Jeremiah 121 

Joseph 330 

Peepy. Joseph 325 

Peik,C. A 361 

Pelagianism 15 

Pelham 107, Ixv 

Pemaquid, Me 228 

Pemberton, Ebenezer 184, 231, 237, 

245, 252, 253, 258, 268, 269, 281, 

282, 296, 300, 301, 306, 307, c 

Pencader _ 193 

Penitent Confession, Richard Baxter.. 84 

Pennepek, Penn 125 

Pennsylvania 34, 123, 130, 131, 140, 

156, 165, 167, 168, i6g, 192, 252, 
254, 258, 289, 300, 314, 315, 316, 
322, 346, 349, Ixxii, Ixxiv, Ixxxiv, 

Ixxxv, c, cii, civ, cv, cxii, cxix 

Pequot River 1 . xxxiv 

Perot, Dr 108 

Perquimans county, N, C. 11 1 

Perry, W. S 120, 124, 125, 126, 127 

Persecution, power of 236 

Perseverance of saints 23 

Perth Amboy, N. J 123 

Peterkin, Alex 44, 45 

Peters, Hugh . . 125 

Petition of W. C(astel) for propagating 

_ of gospel in America 97, xxxvii 

Petition for incorporation of Presby- 
terian church in N. Y 279 

Philadelphia. .87, 95, 118, 119, 120, 124, 
125, 126, 127, 136, 137, 142, 153, 

165, 167, 170, 192, 231, 242, 2S4, 

287, 318, 323, 350, xlv, xlix, 1, liv, 
Ivi, 1-^xi, Ixxvi, Ixxvii, Ixxx, cviii, 

cxv, cxvi, cxvii, cxviii 

Phillips, George 107,108, 177 

Samuel 177 

Phillpot, Richard 119 

Pictet, Benedict 40, 206 

Pickens, General . . 353 

Pierce, James 195, 196, 199, 206 

Pierpont. Benjamin 128 

Pierson, Abraham. . 100, 121, 176, 209, 

215, 216, 237. 269, XXXV, c 

— — John 176, 231, 266, 269, 301, 306 

Pietum _. 239 

Piety, practice of, 240 ; Puritan. . 238, 272 

Pinckney, William Ixv 

Pinenar, Thos Ixv 

Pinners' Hall Fund lix 

Pisca taway, N. H xxxiii 

Plan of union . . cviii 

Plymouth colony... 92, 93, 97, xxxiii, xxxiv 



CXXXVl 



INDEX. 



Plumstead, Kent xxxvi 

Plunket St. church, Dublin . . . 164, 165, 

166, 167 

Pocomoke ii3 

Polhemus, John 126 

Pollock, William 163, Ixix, Ixx 

Polytheism 194 

Pomeroy, Benjamin 251 

— Samuel 177 

Poole, Math . . ._ ... 81 

Pope, the principium unitatis 77 

Popery 60, 61 

Porter, Rev. Mr. S. C 226 

Robert xcvi 

Port Royal, S. C 127, 223 

Jamaica ... 123 

Portsmouth, N. H 1, Hi 

Potomac River 114 

Potts, Thomas Iv 

Powell. Howell 171, 173 

Poyer, Rev. Mr 156 

Prayer, Books of, 35 ; gift of, 39 ; 

meetings of 39 

Prayer Book, Church of England, 30, 
33 ; of Edward VI., 33; revision 

of 81, 82, 83 

Preaching vi 

Predestination 25 

Prelacy, 60, 61 ; and Presbytery, 40-47 ; 

preferred to Papacy. 86 

Prelates, i, 8, 26; Anglo-Roman, 39; 

Puritan ... 39, 40, 46, 47, 48 

Prelatical party, 30, 42 ; system i 

Prelate, Puritan.. 48 

Prelatists 77 

Presbyterianism and Catholicity, 11-14; 
and Christianity, 5-11 ; and Epis- 
copacy, 79-86; formal, 9; and 
Independency, 73-79 ; an organ- 
ism of divine grace, 8, 11; and 
Orthodoxy, 14-18 ; and Prelacy, 
40-47 ; and Protestantism, 19-25 ; 
and Puritanism, 26, 147 ; real, 9 ; 
spurious, 9; a system of church 
government, i, 2 ; in West. 
Ass'n, 63 ; Presbyterianism, 
types of, 4, 173, 373 ; generous, 
283 ; moderate, 79, 80, 84, xvii ; 
narrow, 283, 309; rigid, 77, 183; 
strict, 2TO ; substantial and pru- 
dential 221 

Presbyterianism. American, 127 ; in 
17591 315 ; in 1775, 342 ; began at 
the bottom, 131 ; champion of 
civil and religious liberty. 289 ; 
character in 1775, 343 ; colleges 
of, 187 ; divisions of in Caroli- 
na, 222-7; divisions of in New 
England, 228 -230; divisions of in 
middle colonies. 261 ; identified 
with liberty and constitutional 
government, 50 ; influence upon 
the constitution, 356; and the 
Revolution, 344 se^., 352 se^., 
354 seg'. ; types of, 273 seg^. ; of 
various nationalities, 344; in the 
Bermudas, 88-92; in Carolina, 
163, 222; in Maryland, 109-120; 
on Massachusetts Bay, 93, 97 ; in 
Middle colonies, 138, 316; in 
New England, 92, 99, 188, 334 



seg., 358, xxiii-xxix ; in New Jer- 
sey, 121-123 ; in New York, 
99-108, 143-158, 176, 180, 181, 
184 ; in North Carolina, ic^iseq. ; 
on the Patuxent, 114; in Penn- 
.sylvania, 123-127 ; at .Salem. 93 ; 
in S. C, 127-131, 328, Ixvii, Ixx; 
in Virginia, 109-120, 290 seq.., 297 
Presbyterians of Dublin. 166 ; Eliza- 
bethan, i; of Ireland, 49, 185, 

190, 202, 212 ; of London 166 

Presbyterian Fund of London, 124, 162, 
163, 170, 192, 193, 224, 295, 309, 

Ivi, Iviii 
Presbyterian Missionary Societies.132, 138 

Presbyters, I, 2; divinely called 9, 10 

Presbytery. 8, 45 ; congregational, 70, 
87, 91, 95, 97, 99, 126, 131 ; class- 
ical, I, 70, 71, 72, 131, 140; a 
consistory, iii ; divine right, 58 ; 
not to be enthroned, 8; paroch- 
ial 70 

Presbyteries: Abingdon, 364; Ameri- 
can, First, 114; Amsterdam, cv, 
cvi ; Antrim, 208, 234, 309 ; Ar- 
magh, 186, 188, 189, igi ; Asso- 
ciate of Ireland, 278 ; Associate 
of Londonderry, 358, 359 ; Asso- 
ciate of N. Y., 340, 343. 358 ; As- 
sociate of Pa., 276, 338, 339, 340, 
343" 358; Associate of Perth and 
Dunfermline, 278 ; Associated of 
Morris Co., 363 ; Associated 
Northern, 363 ; Associated cf 
West Chester, 363 ; Autherader, 
210 ; Baltimore, 364 : Bangor, 
237; Belfast, 166; Boston, 282, 
334i 335i 33^1 338 ; Caermarthen, 
193; Caledonia, 130; Carli'^le, 
364; Coleraine, 228; Convoy, 
186, 190; Derry, 205; Donegal, 
247, 254, 261, 262, 263, 274, 289, 
290, 291, 315; Down (Burger), 
339; Dublin, 133, 142,161,164, 
165, 166, 167, 173, 190, 194, 199, 
200, 203, 234, lix ; Dumfries, 
370; Dunblaine, 122; Dutchess 
Co., 330, 337.364; East Jersey, 
242 ; at the Eastward, 337, 342, 
358 ; Edinburgh, 329, cxxii ; Glas- 
gow, 130, 169, 171, 172, 193, 
Ixxxv ; Grafton, 338, 342, 358, 
359; of Hanover, 3m, 347, 364; 
Inverary, 292, 293 ; Irish, First, 
57 ; James Island, 222, 225 ; Jed- 
burgh, 161 ; Laggan, 115, 116, 139, 
141, 142 ; Lewes, 243, 254, 315,364 ; 
Lexington, 364 ; Lochmaber,io6 ; 
Londonderry, 228, 2C9, 335, 336; 
Long Island, 177, 178, 180, 
182, 184, 242; Monaghan, 238; 
New Brunswick, 242, 243, 245, 
246, 247, 254, 257, 262, 263, 264, 
267, 268, 269, 274, 288, 291, 294, 
315, 321; Newburyport, 337; 
New Castle, 186, 210, 211, 212, 
215, 222, 247, 254, 263, 315, 364, 
Ixxvii, Ixxxv ; New Castle, N. S., 
270 ; New Londonderry, 268, 
269, 288 ; of New York, 184, 242, 
250, 254, 263, 267, 268, 269, 288, 



INDEX. 



CXXXVll 



315^ 335, 364, Ixxvi, Ixxvii, c ; of 
Phila., 130, 132 -13s, 139-143, 
15a, 15-:!, 156, 158-161, 172, 174, 
175, 177, 186, 242, 247, 254, 263, 
315, 337, 364. 1, Ixxvii ; of Orange, 
347, 364; of Palmer, 337; Red- 
stone, 364; Route, 238 ; Refor- 
med of N. A., 358 ; Reformed 
in Scotland, 275 ; Reformed in 
America, 274, 341, 343 ; Salem, 
3^8; South Carolina, 364; Snow 
Hill, Ixxvii; Strabane, 230, 234; 
Suffolk, 178, 314, 315, 330, 364, 
371 ; Tara Hill, 167 ; Templepat- 
rick, 237 ; Transylvania, 364 ; 

Wandsworth, i; Ulster 141 

Preterition, doctrine of. ... 68 

Price, Samuel 199 

Priest's orders 1^7 

Primate of Ireland xviii 

Prime, Ebenezer 314 

Prime, N. S 177 

Prince George's county, Maryland. Hi, liii 

Prince, Joseph 337 

Thomas 251, 258 

Princeton, N. J 360 

Prior, Rev. Mr. , of London 308 

Priichard, Thos 151 

Professor of Divinity in College of N. 
Jm 33i<332; in Dutch Reformed 

Church 360 

Hebrew in College of N. J 332 

Prophesying 39 

Protest of 1721 2og 

right to cix 

Protestation of 1741 262 seq. , xc, cix 

Protesters 35, 74 

Protestantism, 3, 12, 15 ; Catholic, 19 ; 

Orthodox, 19 ;Presbyterianism, ig-25 
Protestant Churches, correspondence 

between cxxi 

Protestants of Saltzburg, exiled Ixi 

Protestant succession 236, 290 

Proudfoot, James 278, 338 

Providence, Md iii, xxxi, xxxiv 

Prudden, Job xxxv 

- — — John 105, 123 

Peter 105 

Prynne, Wm 5i» 9i» 92 

Public worship , 55 

Pullen Bishop igo 

Pumroy, Samuel 161, 173, 174, 237 

Puritan era ... 27 

Puritanism, 26 ; British type of Prot- 
estantism, 26 ; coniistent, 79, c ; 
Elizabethan, 31 ; Episcopal, 356, 
xvii; ethical element of, 52; gen- 
uine, 35, 38; in Ireland, 46 seq.^ 
and liberty of worship, 38 ; or- 
ganic principle of, 27 ; and 
preaching, 38-39 ; and prescribed 
forms, 38 ; Puritanical, 35, 54 ; 
radical, 37 ; rich in martyrs, 28 ; 
spurious, 38; Old Testament 

cast of 53 

Puritanism in America : migrated to, 
87 ; persecution of, 158 ; in New 
England, 92, log, 121, 157 ; in 
New Jersey, 176-184; in New 
York, 144, 15^, 156, 157, 184, l.xiv- 
Ixvii; revived in Methodism, 238 



seq.\ in the Somers Islands, 88; 
in South Carolina, 162 ; in Vir- 
ginia, 109 ; at Westchester 103 

Psalmody, vi ; changes in, 279 seq.\ 

Westminster view of. 37 

Quakers, 105, 114, 117, 137, 138, xlii, 

Ixiii, Ixiv, Ixvi, Ixix, Ixxvii 

Keithlte 138 

Queen's college 342 

Queens county, N. Y 107, 108 

Ramelton, Ireland xliv 

Ramsey Rev. Mr 340 

Raphoe, Ireland 115 

Rappahannock, Va 165 

Raritan, Somerset Co., N. J 239, 240 

Rawlinson, Jno 81 

Rayner Rev. Mr., of Plymouth xxxiii 

Read, Israel 359 

Reading xxxii 

Reason and Revelation .... 227 

Rebellion, Irish Roman Catholic. .57, 58 

Recognition, fraternal 289 

Recommendation, letters of 234 

Reformation, The, 18, 25B; in Great 
Britain, 26-28 ; root and branch, 

31, 33 ; in Scotland 31, 45 

Reformed Churches, . ..4, 15, 16, 22, 61, 
63, 76, 162, 200, 208, 221, 239; in 
1775, 342 ; doctrine of, 201, 218, 

219, 343 ; symbols of 23, 29 

Regeneration, 22 ; necessity of, 240; 

by the Spirit 260. 

Rehoboth, Va 117, 164, 192, xxxiv 

Reid, J. S., 47, 49, 86, 94, 113, 141, 172, 

185, 188, 190 

Reiger, J. B 311 

Reigniere, James 154 

Relief Fund 322 

Religious obedience founded on per- 
sonal persuasion 204 

Remonstrance, Grand 58 

Renovation 22 

Repentance 24, 260 

Representation of Presbyteries 362 

Republican government 355 

Resolutioners 35, 94 

Restoration, The 33, 85, 98, 141 

Reunion of 1758, 317 seq.^ 370 ; of Re- 
formed churches 341 seq. 

Revelation, implicit Ixxxviii 

Revival influences, 240, 254, 271 ; 
measures, 314 ; in N. Y. city, 252, 
280; at Northampton, 250; in 

Scotland 256 

Revolution, American 329, 342, xxxiv 

British 106, 132, xlvii 

Reynolds, Doctor 46 

Reynolds, Bishop Edward.. .24, 80, 81, 

82, 84, 90 

Thomas . 157, 163, 170, 172, 198, 200, 224 

Rhinebeck, N. Y 3^9 

Rhode Island .... xxxiv 

Rice Lak e xxxix 

Rich, Lord 88 

Richards, Samuel Ivi 

Richardson , Samuel Iv 

William 329 

Richmond county, N. Y 107, 108 

Riddel, Archibald 122 



JXXXVIU 



INDEX. 



Rights of conscience .. 355, 367 

Righteousness of Christ imputed, 260 ; 

original Ixxxviii 

Riker, James 101,103,105, 107 



Scholasticism 9, 24, 26, 

Schools in Pa. among German Re- 
formed 



29 



Ritzema, John.. 
Francis 



Schuneman, John 
iilip. , 



Roberts, iirancis 

John 119 

Robertson, Principal cxx 

Robinson, John 92, 200 

William 270,291,294,296, 304 

Robinsonianism 95 

Rodgers, John.. 296, 332, 334, 352, 359, 360 

Roger, Rev. Mr 340 

Rogers, Ezekiel xxxiii 

Nathaniel xxxiii 

Romanism 16 

Rome I, 19, 28, 29, 32 

Rome, church of. 5, 12, 14, 16 

Romeyn , Dirck 354 

Rolls Office 1 

Ross, Rev. Mr 126, 191 

Rotterdam 178, 284 

Route, Ireland 115, 141 

Row, John. 255 

Rowland, John 245, 304 

Robert xcvi 

Rowley, Mass 122, xxxiii 

Roxbury, Mass 97, 177, xxvi, xxx, 

XXXI, xxxii, XXXV, xxxviii 

Rubel, J. C 353 

Rules of order, Presbyterian 336 

Rule, Robert 115 

Rupture of Synod of Philadelphia. 261 se^. 

Russel, Jonathan .xxx, xxxiv 

Rutherford, Samuel 60, 74, 94, 95, 

228, 229, xxvii 
Rye, N. Y 104, 105, 106, 107, 151 

Sabbath, breaking of. .Ixxii, Ixxv ; col- 

lection on the. ..175, Ixxii, cviii, cxiv 

Puritan doctrine of 48, 50, 52, 53 

Sabellian scheme 194 

Sabeliius 195 

Sacket, Samuel 257,330 

Sacraments, administration of. .49, vii, viii 
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, sus- 
pension from 65 

Sanctification 240 

Sandwich. Mass 104, xxxiv 

Salem, Mass 93, 114, 335, xxxiii 

Salley, (Salwej') 113, 114 

Salsbury, Mass xxxiii 

Salters' Hall Fund lix 

Presby. church of.. 169, 170, 197 

Saltetudos xlix 

Salizburg. Germany xli 

Salv.ition by divine grace alone 22 

Sargent, John.. 301 

Satisfaction of Christ 231 

Saunderr.on. Prof 62 

Savannah , Georgia 240, 253 

Savoy Confession 133, 135 

conference of 81, 82, 83 

Saybrook, Conn 133 

platform 133 

Schenectady loi 

Scarsdale Manor, N. Y 148 

SchaflF, Philip 43, 61 

Schism 60, 61, 321 

Schlatter, Michael 311, 312, 313, cv, cvi 

Scholarship fund established. 310 



3" 

354 

Schuyler, Philip 349 

Scituate, Mass xxxiii 

Scotch Church in New York . . .283. Ixxviii 

colony on the Isthmus of Darien. 128 

Scotch-Irish zeal for American Inde- 
pendence 347-8 

Soot, George 121, 122 

Scoto-Hibernus 139 

Scott, Adam 128 

Scott, Hugh . 106, 116, 122, 129, T30, 161, 170 

John Morin 347 

Scotus Duns 15 

Scriven, William Ixvii, l.\ix 

Scripture^;, above the church, 6, 7, 9 ; 
authority of, 28, 30 ; doctrine of, 
21, 40 ; lule of faith, 7 ; sufficient 
of itself, 30 ; test of the true 

church, 6 ; the Word of God 7 

Scruples against confession and cate- 
chisms. . . .220, 235, 236, 237, 308, 321 

Seabrook, N. H 337 

Seaman, Lazarus 71, 80 

Seceders, union with 338 

Secession Church of Scotland. .254 seq. , 

276, 282 

Secomb, Joseph 300 

Sedan, France 46 

Selden, John 62 

Sclyns, Dr. Henry :.. .108,285,286 

Semi-Ananism, 206, 238; how to deal 
with it, 196; of Thomas Emlyn, 
190. 194, 195 ; of James Pierce. . . 195 

Senate of elders iii 

Separation. . 90 

^- of Baptists from Presbyterians in 

Philadelphia liv-lvi 

of Church and State 354, 355, 367 

j in Connecticut 257, 258 

' Separatists 70 

' Setauket, N. Y ...... 177 

: Setlingbourne, Virginia in 

1 Sevier, Colonel 353 

Sewell, Joseph 300 

Sharp, Archbishop of St. Andrews 85 

chaplain John 155, 156 

Shea, J. G 108 

Sheffield, Jo 81 

Shelby, Colonel 353 

Sherlock, Dr 194, 195 

Shenandoah Valley, Virginia .289, 291 

bhepard, Samuel 122 

Thomas xxx, xxxii 

Sherman, John xxxii 

Shields, Alex. \7.Z 

Shower, John 135, Iviii 

Shrewsbury, Duke of 185 

Shultze, Rev. Mr Ix 

Shute, Gov i83 

Sibley, J. L 90, 104, 105, 121 

Simson, Dugald 106 

John 202, 203, 204. 2o6j 254, 

Ixxxv, Ixxxviii, Ixxxix 
Simpson, Sidrach. .62, 223, Ixxvi, Ixxx, 

Ixxxvii 
Sinclair, Alexander. ,164, 165, 166, 190, lix 

Sion College 68,71,80,82, 83 

Skelton, Samuel 93 



INDEX. 



CXXXIX 



Skippach, Pa 287 

Slade, Edward 106, 153 

Slater, Samuel 13S 

Sloss, James 206 

Sloughter, Gov 106 

Small, John 116, xxxviii 

Smith, Henry xxx, xxxiv 

Rev. Dr , 359 

Captain John 88 

John 314, 330 

- — Joseph 159, 173 

losiah 225, 226, 227, 257, 329 

Richard 100 

Thomas 178, 180 

William 301, 347 

Smythe, Thomas 351, 353 

Snow Hill, Maryland 118, 120, Ixxvii 

Soaper, John liii 

Sodbury, Gloucester, England 100 

!:ociety for Promoting Christian 

Knowledge 136, i37j 323, Ix-lxi 

for Propagation of Gospel in New 

England.. 98, 104, 162, 298, xxxi, 

xxxvi 
for the Propagation of the Gospel 

in Foreign Parts, 137, 138, 145, 

148, 149, 151, 152, 155, 156, 157, 



163, 165, 191, 222, Ix, Ixi, lx\ 
idfoi ' ~" 



in Scotland for Propagating Chris- 
tian Knowledge.292,293, 297Je'7., 

^ . 3071 323, 324, 325-7, 329 

Socinus, Faustus 195 

Socinianism 204, 231, 238 

Somers Isles 89,90,92,99 

Somerset, Duke of 40 

county, Md 120, Ixxxvi 

South Carolina 190, 345, 352, 353, Ixvii 

Southampton, L. I . 100, 102, 104, 106, 

121, 177, 178, 314, XXXV, Ixvii 
Southold. . ..100, 105, 106, 177, 178, 258, 

314, XXXV, Ixvii 

Sovereignty of God 23, 24 

Spark, isle ot 42 

Spel, Thomas Ixv 

Spencer, Elihu 315, 316 

Spener, J. H 239 

Spirit, Holy: Guide of the Church. 6, 
7, 8, 10, 13 ; interpreter of Scrip- 
tures, 6, 7, 10, 18, 28 ; Catho- 
lic doctrine of II 

Spotswood, J. B. . 126 

Spottiswoode, Aichbishop. 46 

Sprague, W. B 118, 128, 325, 329, 332 

Spurstow, William 81 

Springfield xxxv 

Stamford, Conn 102, 104, xxxv 

Stamford, Lincolnshire 194 

St. Andrews, Archbishop of. 55, 85 

Stanyarn, Joseph 223 

Star Chamber, court of 51 

Stark, John 224 

Staten Island, N. Y 105 

Stauflfer, D. McN xlv 

St. Augustine 329 

St. Bartholomew's day 83, 113 

Stearns, J. F 100, 121 

Steele, Capt 300 

Judge 98 

Stepney 190 

Sterling, John, Principal. 163, 171, 175, 
176, 179, 181, 1^5, 192, i93i 234, 



Ixxiii, Ixxx, Ixxxi, Ixxxii, Ixxxiv, 

Ixxxv, Ixxxvi, Ixxxvii 

Stevens, Robert Ixviii 

Col 115, 116 

Stevenson, Hugh 191,23;^ 

Steward, William 192, Ixxxii, Ixxxvi 

Stewart, Andrew 49 

St. Gall cv 

St. George's. Delaware 296 

towne, Bermudas 89 

St. Johnstone, Ireland 1x8 

Stiles, Ezra .315, 326, 327 

Stirke, George 90 

Stillingfleet, Edward li 

Stobo, Archibald 128, 129, 130, 163, 

222, 223, Ixvii, Ixviii, Ixix 

Stoddard, James 120, 251, liii 

Stone, Captain William no, in 

Stone, Samuel xxxv 

Story, Joshua Iv 

Stratford, Conn xxix, xxxv 

Streete, Rev. Mr., of Taunton, Mass.xxxiv 

Stretton, Richard 135, Iviii 

Strong, Leonard no, in 

Stryker, Peter 361 

Students of divinity, 299, x, xi ; exam- 
ination of, 243-245 ; aided, 309, 

Ivii, Iviii ; diplomas 243-244 

Stubbs, Rev. Mr 124, Ixvii 

Mrs 43 

Stuart, John 94 

Stuyvesant, Gov 101, 103 

Sturgeon, Robert 269 

Subscribers, 197, 202 ; Irish, 205, 208, 
215 ; in London, 215 ; in Syrjod 

ofPhila 216 

Subscription, 87 ; controversy in Great 
Britain, 194-208; controversy in 
South Carolina, 226 ; contro- 
versy in Synod of Phila., 208- 
216; formula of, 201, 370, xviii ; 
liberal, 272, 273, 308, 371 ; of 
licentiates, 215; opposition to, 
308, 309 ; stiict, 205, 230, 235-238, 
261, 271, 273; verbal, 201, 220; 
terms of, 317, 319, 320 ; to West- 
minster confession, 202, 203, 308, 
336, V, xiii ; West, standards, 

232, 233, 235, 267, 271, 272 

Substance of doctrine 221 

Sudbury, Mass xxxii 

Suffolk, Mass Ixvii 

county, N.Y io8, 152 

Summer Hill, Ireland ia5 

Islands 88, 92 

Sumpter, Colonel 353 

Superstition 60, 61 

Surplice 87 

Surrey 112 

Suspension from Lord's Supper iii 

Susquehanna river 302 

Sussex county, Delaware 124 

Swansey, Mass 130 

Switzerland..... 24, cv 

Symmes, Zachariah xxxii 

Synods, xv ; conventions at, xxi ; di- 
ocesan, xxi ; kinds of, xv; liable 
to error, 6; monthly, xxii ; may 
counsel and admonish, xxix ; 
national, xv, xvi, xxii, xxvii ; 
provincial, 73, 245, xv, xvi, xxii- 



cxl 



INDEX. 



xxvii; Argyle, civ; Associate 
Anti-Burger, 275, 278, 339, 340; 
Associate Burger, 323, 339, 340, 
cxii,cxviii; Associate Reformed, 
358, 360; of the Carolinas. 364; 
of Derry, 186, 190, 230; General, 
of Dutch Reformed ch., 361 ; of 
Glasgow, 129, 130, 164, 167, 168, 
172, 175, 176, 181, 223, 225, civ, 
of Holland, cv ; of Ireland, 
215 ; of New England, 336, 342, 
358 ; of New York. 258, 269. 2^8, 
2qjseg., 314, c, ci, cii, ex ; of New 
York and New Jersey. 364 ; of 
New York and Phil., 317 seg., 
cviii, cxiv, cxviii, cxx, cxxi; of 
Nice, 212; of North and South 
Holland, 284, 287. 311, 333; of 
Philadelphia, 151, 174, 176, 197, 
222, 228, 229, 230, 258, 284, 28-, 
290, 291, 299, 300, 364, xc, cviii ; 
of Ulster, 133, 165, 166, 167, 186, 
189, 190, 199, 200, 201. 228, 233, 

234. 238, 303 ; of Virginia 364 

System of church governm'ent ... i 

of Christian doctrine.. .. 319, 320, 

322, 370, 372, 373 

Talbot, John 125,138 

Tankerstown, Ireland. . . Ix 

Tanner's Creek Precinct, Va 119 

Taylor, Isaac 54, Ixv 

Joseph 106 

I^thaniel.. ,11a, 120, 14a, 173, lii, liii 

Taylour, Rev. Mr., 6fS. C Ixix 

Taunton, Mass 100, xxxiy 

Teachers, 70 ; duty of iii 

Teaching of the Twelve Apostles 79 

Telfair, David . . 339, 340 

Tennent, Charles ..244, 245, 263, 270, 304 

Gilbert 237, 240, 241, 242, 244, 

245, 247, 249» 250, 259, 263, 264, 
270, 296, 3or, 302, 304, 307, 308, 
309, 310, 322, 371, xciii, xcvii, 

xcviii, cii, ciii 

John 238, 245, 304 

William.. ..186, 187, 237, 238, 242, 

244, 246, 263, 301, 304, 305, 306, 

352, xcvii 

Tennessee 328, 355 

Tertullian xix, xx 

Tercentenary of Presbytery at Wands- 
worth i 

Test Act 184 

Thatcher, Thomas xxxii 

Thomas, Rev. Mr 156, Ixv, Ixvi 

Ihomson, David 311, 312, civ, cv, 

cvi, cxxi 

John... 186, 211, 212, 215, 216, 231, 

237, 242, 254, 262, 265, 266, 267, 

272, 274, 291, xcvi 

Samuel 262, xcvi 

William ^'^^Il 

Thompson, Christopher liii 

William 109, 213,228, 229 

Thrusk, Yorkshire . 112 

Timber Ridge, Va. . 294 

Tisdell, Rev, Mr., Ireland 190 

Todd, John 296, 297, 328 

Toleration, religious, 27, 80, 255, 289 ; 
act, 154, 155, 203 ; act in Virginia, 



296 ; granted to Presby terianism, 
86 ; higher views of, 346, in non- 
essentials 37 

Tong, (Tongue), Dr. 169, 170, 198, 200, 224 

Topsfield, Mass 106 

Torthorwald, Scotland 170 

Totocot, Conn xxxv 

Tracy. J 251 

Tradition 5 

Traill, William 115, 116, 117, xlv 

Tranquebar, East Indies ... Ix 

Tran.substantiation 22 

Travers, Walter.. .. 42,43,47,48,90, i 
Treat, R.ichard. 237, 247, 257, 263, 270, 

322, 326, c 

Trenton, N. J 123 

Trial of Makemie xlix 

Trinity, doctrine of 94 

Church, N. Y 146, 147, 152, 351 

College, Dublin 47, 48, 61 

Troop, William 314 

Trumbull, Benjamin 260 

Trustees in Presbyterian churches. 279-283 

Tucker. Daniel 88 

Tuckney, Anthony 63, 81, 200 

Turrell. 124 

Tuscarora Station xxxix 

Twisse, William, Dr 63 

Tyndale, William 6,19,28, 30 

Types of Presbyterianism 221 

Tyrone, Ireland 115, 141 

Union of Burgers and Anti-Burgers in 
America, 339-340 ; of Christians, 
255, 1x1 ; Convention of 1771, 342; 
of Dutch and German Reformed 
proposed, 361 ; plan of 1758, 362, 
cviii ; of Presbyterians and Re- 
formed, 272 ; of Presbyterians 
and Reformed frustrated in 1744, 
zS^seg.; of Presbyterian and Re- 
formed churches in 1785, 359 seg.; 

with Seceders 338 seg. 

United body of Presbyterians and Con- 

gregationalists Ivii 

Tlrethren of Exon and Devon .. 195 

University of Aberdeen, 137; of Cam- 
bridge, 61 ; of Edinburgh, 122, 
129, 161, 163, 164, 170, 172, 186, 
191, 192, 205, 238; of Glasgow, 
106, 139, 164, 167, 169, 171, 172, 
176, 186, 188, 191, 192, 193, 205, 
230, 237, xxix, xliii, Ixxi, Ixxxvi; 

of Leyden, 205 ; of Oxford 61 

Utrecht 108 

Ussher, James. . . .48, 49, 52, 61, 62, 68, 

80, 146, xvii, xviii 

Urquhart, William 150, Ixvi 

Ulster county, N. Y 108 

Ulster, Ireland 49,86,292 

Vancouver Island xxxix 

Van der Donck, Adrien loi 

Van Horn, Daniel 282 

Van Lear, John Ivi 

Van Vleck, Paulus 159 

Varick, Dr. 108 

Vaughan, Edward 160 

Venning, W. M xxxvi 

Verbrugge, Otto 239 

Vesey, William . . 104, 108, 144, 145, 146, 

1471 M9. 151. 153 



INDEX. 



cxli 



Vestry, ecclesiastical 147 

Vestrymen in N. Y 107, 147 

Vincent, Thomas 324 

Virginia 87, 88, 89, 90, 101, no, 

III, 112, 115, 117, 119, 131, 192, 
289, 291, 296, 297, 313, 315, 322, 
323, 346, xl, xlvi, xlvii, I, Ixxi, c, 

cii, cxix 

Company 87, 90, 109 

Valley of 29-^ 

Visions 318, cxi 

Wade, Nathaniel 159, 173 

Wales 61, 66, 67, 72, 98, xxxvi, Ivii 

Eleazer , 237, 263 

Walker, Zechariah 104, 190 

Wallis, John 82, 84 

Walton, Rev. Mr xxxiii 

Wandsworth, England 43j i 

Ward, John 62, xxxiii 

Wardrope, William xlvii 

Wareham, John xxxv, xxxvi 

Warwick, England 43, i 

Waterford, Ireland 133, i6<^ 

Watertown, Mass 97, 109, xxxii 

Watson. Peter. 122 

Watts, Isaac 199, 281, 282, 324 

Watts, John 125, liv, Iv, Ivi 

Weathersfield, Conn .... 102, xxx, xxxiv, 1 

Webb, Joseph 177, 209, 237 

Webster, James 203,204 

Richard.. .111, 120, 126, 187, 188, 

191, 193, 210, 229, 237, 292, 294, 
^ . , , 309, 314^ 337^ xlv 

Weir, John 244 

Weiss, George 287, 311 

Weld, Thomas 96, 205 

Welsh, Josias 49 

Welsh Congregationalists 171 

Wenham, Mass xxxiii 

Wentworth, Earl of Strafford 52 

Wesley, John 239,255 

Westchester county. . 103, 104, 105, 106, 

107, 108, 148, 149, 151, 155, Ixv 

Westerlo, Eilardus 354, 360 

Western inquisition 195 

West Farms, N. Y 152 

Westfield, Bishop 62 

West Friesland cvi 

West Indies 97, 332, xxxvii, xxxix 

West Jersey 123 

Westminster, 59, 60, 63, 64, 65, xxiv ; 
Abbey, 59 ; Assembly, 51, 54, 59, 
60, 61-73, ^2, 87, 93, 200,202,213, 
218, 298, xvii, xxiii, xxiv, xci, 
xcy ; catechisms, 211, 217, 218, 
xci, xcv, cviii, ex, cxviii, cxix ; 
catechism, larger, 232. 233, 235, 
267, 270, 319, 328, 336, 365, 367, 
37O1 371; catechism, shorter, 196, 
2321 233, 235, 267, 270, 319, 328, 
336. 370, 371; Confession of 
Faith, 6, 8, 49, 135, 200, 201, 202, 
205, 207, 210, 211, 213, 217, 218, 
227, 230, 232, 233, 235, 267, 270, 
319, 322, 328, 336, 363, 364-367, 
369, 371, xci, xcv, cviii, ex, cxviii, 
cxix; directory, 67, 95, 220, 2:56, 
241, 243, 244, 246, 247, 249, 267, 
270, 320, 322, 328, 336, 370, 371, 
xci, xcv, cviii, ex, cxviii ; divines, 



71 ; standards, 200, 20<^, 211, 241 ; 

symbols, revision of 364 

Westmoreland 77, 78 

Weymouth . xxxii 

Wheeleright, John xxxiii 

Wheelock, Eleazar.. 251, 252, 324, 325, 338 

Whichcote, Benjamin 84, 200, xliii 

Whiston, William 194, 195, 206 

Whitaker, Alexander .. 87 

E 100, 178 

Nathaniel 325,^34 

W . .. 81, '87 

White Clay Creek, Md 171 

White, Captain xlvii 

Ebenezer 178, 314 

John 93, liii 

Nathaniel 90,91, 93 

Sylvanus 314 

Whitefield, George. . 239, 240, 246, 252, 

2531 254, 255, 256, 257, 283, 292, 

303, 304, xxx, xxxv, xcviii 

Whitgift, Archbishop 42 

Whitehall xl 

Whitehead, W. A. 123 

Whiting, Joseph 106,1-7 

Samuel 106, xxxiii 

Wiclif, John 6, 18, 19, 28, 30 

Wicomico 167, 192,296 

Wiggen, Mr., of Dover . . xxxiii 

Wigglesworth, Edward 300 

Wilcocks, Thomas 42 

William, King 86, 132, 137, 360 

Williamsburgh 223 

Williams, Colonel 353 

Daniel 134, 135, 190, 191, 264, 

297, 298, ^99, xxxix, Iviii, lix, Ix 

Dr., Library 34, 71, 78, 91, 132, 

T70, 195, 298, xxxi, xxxiv, xliii 

Roger xxxi, xxxiv 

Willison, John 255, 258 

Willtown, S. C . 223 

Windsor, Conn xxxv, 1 

Winthrop, Gov 109, 11 1, xxiii, xxx 

John xxxiv 

Wilson, John 124, 126, 127, 140, 142, 

164, 167, 173, 191, 229, xxx, xxxi, 

xxxii, xxxvi 

Matthew 306 

Thomas 114 

William 255 

Wiltshire 77, 78 

Withdrawal, liberty of. 270, 319, cix 

Witherow, Thomas 202, 205 

Witherspoon, John.. 225, 332, 341, 349, 

351, 352, 359, 362 

Robert 167,169,173,223 

Witsius, Hermann 239, 360 

Wittenberg 20, 29 

Wodrow MSS .129, 188, 223, 224, Ixx, 

Ixxxiii, Ixxxiv, Ixxxvi, Ixxxvii 

Woburn, Mass xxxii 

Wood, Rev. Mr., of S. C Ixix 

Woodbridge, Benjamin.. 124, 125, 126, 1-lii 

John 106, 107, 1 

N. J ......121,122,159,171,176,177 

Timothy I 

Woodbury, Conn 104, 122, 131 

Woodhull, John 359 

Woodruff, William 105 

Woodiide, James 189 

Wood St. chapel 190 



cxlii 



INDEX. 



Woolsey, George 103 

Rebecka . 103 

Sarah 102 

Thomas 103 

Worcester, Mass 189, 228 

Worcestershire 77 

Worthingtoii, Thomas 244 

Wooster, Rev. Mr xxxiii 

Wrexham, England 134 

Wright, Rev. Mr., of London 200 

John 328 

Yale College. .121, 151, 176, 257, 304, 

305, 315, 34i< xcvii 
Yarmouth xxxiv 



Yonkers, N. Y 107, 148, Ixv 

York, Uuke of 104 

England . 112, 165 

S. C 353 

Va 165 

Yorkshire no 

Youngs, David 270 

Young, John 94, 100, 176, xxix, xxxv 

Samuel 188 

Zanchv, Richard 262, xcvi 

Zinzendorf, Count von 239 

Zurich ... 29 

Zwingli, Ulrich 19, 22, 28 



BIBLICAL STUDY. 

ITS PRINCIPLES, METHODS, AND HISTORY. 

Together -with. a. Catalogxie of Books of R.eferonoe. 

By CHARI^HS A. BRIGGS, D.D., 

Professor of Hebrew and Cognate Languages in Union Theological Seminary, 
New York. Second Edition. One Volume, 12mo, $2.50. 



FOREIGN PRESS NOTICES. 

"A choice book, for which we wish wide circulation and deep influence in its 
own land and also recognition among us. The author maintains his position 
with so much spirit and in such beautiful language that his book makes de- 
lightful reading, and it is particularly instructive for Germans on account of the 
very characteristic extracts from the writings of English theologians of the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Moreover, he is unusually familiar with 
German literature of recent date as well as with that of the earlier period." — 
Zarncke's Literaturisches Centralblatt fiir Deutschland. 

" The book is one ot much value, not the less to be esteemed because of the 
moderate compass into which the mass of information has been compressed." 
— The Spectator. 

"Dr. Briggs is fully alive to the dignity of the subject, and the gravity of the 
crises through which Biblical studies are passing, and the volume before us is a 
noteworthy book, a? indicating an advanced stage in the progress of biblical 

and theological study in America Dr. Briggs is acknowledged to be one of 

the most accomplished biblical scholars in America, and his studies, both in his 
own country and in Germany, give great weight and authority to his state- 
ments." — British Quarterly. 

" Here is a theological writer, thoroughly scientific in his methods, and yet 
not ashamed to call himself evangelical. One great merit of this handbook 
is the light which it throws on the genesis of modern criticism and exegesis. 
Those who use it will escape the crudities of many English advocates of half- 
understood theories. Not the least of its merits is the well-selected catalogue 
of books of reference — English, French, and German. We ai>_ sure that no 
student will regret sending for the book." — The Academy., London. 

" The present work will be found to be a comprehensive survey of the various 
branches of biblical learning in their historical development and present condi- 
tion, as well as an earnest plea for the free application to the Holy Sc. iptures of 
those critical principles which are recognized in the case of all other literatures ; 
written by one who has made himself a master of the subject, and who is able 
to write upon it both with the learning of the scholar and with the earnestness 
of sincere conviction. . . . Professor Briggs is to be thanked for introducing to 
us a work which, alike for its scholarly qualities and its religious tone ; for its 
reverence for the past and its sympathy with the present ; for its boldness and 
its caution, is deserving of a cordial reception from biblical students in this 
country." — The Scotsman., Edinburgh. 



BRIGG'S BIBLICAL STUDY. 



AMERICAN PRESS NOTICES. 

" The volume is far more than a work of good sense and candor, or even 
of scholarship. The special merits of the volume we conceive to be in its 
splendid sketches of the development of biblical criticism and interpretation, 
including the so-called higher criticism." — NewYork Independent. 

" The style of the author is clear and vigorous. It has the boldness of intense 
conviction. It has the clearness of vivid conception. Sometimes the sentences 
are sharp and keen as the swift strokes of a flashing scimetar ; sometimes they 
strike like triphammers : sometimes they glow with a genuine and lofty elo- 
quence." — Chicago Interior. 

" The minister who thoroughly masters this volume will find himself mentally 
invigorated, as well as broadened in his scope of thought ; will almost certainly 
be able to better satisfy himself in his understanding of what the truth is which 
from the Bible he ought to preach to men ; and so will speak from his pulpit 
with new force, and find his words mightier, through God, to the pulling down 
of strongholds. "^ — Boston Cottgregationalist. 

" After all that we have heard of the higher criticism it is refreshing to find 

so scholarly and trenchant defences of the old paths His historical account 

of the movement and development among the English-speaking scholars is very 
valuable. This, and the chapter on the ' Literary Study of the Bible,' are 
among the best in this excellent book." — New York Christian Advocate 
(Methodist). 

" We are constrained to rank this book as one of the signs of the times in the 
American church. It marks the rising tide of biblical scholarship. Christian 
liberty of thought and evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures." — Christian 
Union. 

"There are many grounds on which the work may be very earnestly com- 
mended. Large reading in German and English, quick apprehension of the 
salient points of opposing theories, an unflagging earnestness of purpose, and 
very positive belief in his positions conspire to make the work instructive and 
attractive. But above all these excellences there shines out the author's deep 
reverence for the whole Bible." — The Examiner (Baptist, N. Y.) 

"Dr. Briggs has written, with great ability and ripe learning, a book which 
conservatives may read without being wounded, while being disposed to a fair 
and open attitude toward the new criticism." — The Critic^ N. Y. 

" This is an admirable volume, containing a large amount of information and 
pervaded by a reverent spirit. Even scholars will, we think, be surprised to 
see old themes treated with so much freshness and vigor." — The Christian In- 
telligencer (Reformed Dutch). 

*.3{.* For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent, post-paid, on 
receipt of price, by 

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743 AND 745 BROADWAY NEW YORK. 



The Religions of the Ancient World 

Including Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia, Persia, India, 
Phoenicia, Etruria, Greece, Rome. 

By GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A. 



One Volume, 12 mo, _ - _ - $1,00* 

Uniform with " The Origin of Nations." 

Canon Rawlinson's great learning and his frequent contribu- 
tions to the history of ancient nations qualify him to treat the 
subject of this volume with a breadth of view and accuracy of 
knowledge that few other writers can lay claim to. The treatise 
is not intended to give an exhaustive review of ancient religions, 
but to enable the students of history to form a more accurate 
apprehension of the inner life of the ancient world. 

" The historical studies which have elevated this author's Avorks to the 
highest position have made him familiar with those beliefs which once di- 
rected the world's thought ; and he has done literature no better service 
than in this little volume. . . . The book is, then, to be accepted 
as a sketch, and "as the most trustworthy sketch in our language, of the re- 
ligions discussed." — jV. Y. Christian Advocate. 

THE ORIGIN OF NATIONS 

By Professor GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A. 



One Volume^ 12mo, With maps, - - $1,00. 



The first part of this book, Early Civilizations, discusses the 
antiquity of civilization in Egypt and the other early nations of 
the East. The second part, Ethnic Affinities in the Ancient 
World, is an examination of the ethnology of Genesis, showing 
its accordance with the latest results of modern ethnographical 
science. 

" An attractive volume, which is well worthy of the careful consideration 
of every reader." — Observer. 

'' A work of genuine scholarly excellence and a useful offset to a great 
deal of the superficial current literature on such subjects." 

— Congreg'ationalist. 

" Dr. Rawlmson brings to this discussion long and patient rf'search, a 
vast knowledge and intimate acquaintance with wnat has been written on 
both sides of the question." — Brooklyn Union-Ar^us. 

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The Theory of Preaching, 

OR 

LECTURES ON HOMILETICS. 

By Professor AUSTIN PHELPS, D.D. 



One volume,. Svo^ - - _ _ _ $2.50 



This work, now offered to the i^uMic, is the growth of 
more than thirty years' practical experience in teaching. 
While primarily designed for professional readers, it will be 
found to contain much that will be of interest to thoughtful 
laymen. The writings of a master of style of broad and 
catholic mind are always fascinating; in the present case the 
wealth of appropriate and pointed illustration renders this 
doubly the case, 

CRITICAL NOTICES. 

"In the range of Protestant homiletical literature, we venture to affirm that Its equal 
cannot be found for a conscientious, scholarly, and exhaustive treatment of the theor\' 
and practice of preach ins. * * * To the treatment of his subject Dr. Phelps brings 
su h qualifications as very few men now living possess. His is one of those delicate and 
sensitive natures which are instinctively critical, and yet full of what IMatthew Arnold 
happily calls sweet reasonableness. * * *_ To this characteristic graciousness of 
nature Dr. Phelps adds a style which is preeminently adapted to his special work. It is 
nervous, epigrammatic, and racy."' — The Examiner and Chronicle. 

"It is a wise, spirited, practical and devout treatise upon a topic of the utmost con- 
sequence to pastors and people alike, and to the salvaf.on of mankuid. It is elaborate 
but not redundant, rich in the fruits of experience, yet thoioughly timely and current, 
and it easily takes the verj- first rank among volumes of its class. — Ike Congrega- 
tionalist. 

" The layman will find it delightful reading, and ministers of all denominations and 
of all degrees of experience will rejoice in it as a veritable mine of wisdom." — New York 
Ckristian Advocate. 

"The volume is to be commended to young men as a superb example of the art in 
which it aims to instruct them." — The Itidependent. 

"The reading of it is a mental tonic. The preacher cannot but feel often his heart 
burning w-ithm him- under its influence. We could wish it might be in the hands of every 
theological student and of every pastor." — The Watchman. 

"Thirty-one years of experience as a professor of homiletics in a leading American 
Theological Seminary by a man of genius, learning and power, are condensed into this 
valuable sQ\\\mz." — Christian Intelligencer. 

" Our professional readers wiil make a great mistake if they suppose this volume is 
simply a heavy, monotonous discussion, chiefly adapted to the class-room. It is a 
delightful volume for general reading.'" — Boston Zion's Herald. 



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A NEW EDITION . 

Books and Reading. 

BY 

NOAH PORTER, LL.D., President of Yale College, 

With an appendix giving valuable directions for courses oj 

readings prepared by James M. Hubbard, late 

of the Boston Public Library. 



1 vol , c^o^A^:l 8vo., - _ - $2 OC. 

It would be difficult to name any American better qualified 
than President Porter to give advice upon the important 
question of " What to Read and How to Read." His 
acquaintance with the whole range of English literature is 
most thorough and exact, and his judgments are eminently 
candid and mature. A safer guide, in short, in all literary 
matters, it would be impossible to find. 



"The great value of the book lies not in prescribing courses of reading, but in a 
discussion of principles, which lie at the foundation of all valuable systematic reading." 

— The Christian Standard. 

"Young people w^ho wish to know what to read and how to read it, or how to piu-sue 
a particular course of reading, cannot do better than begin with this book, which is a 
practical guide to the whole domain of literature, and is full of wise suggestions for the 
improvement of the mind." — Philadelphia Bulleti7i. 

"President Porter himself treats of ali the leading departments of literature of course 
with abundant knowledge, and with what is of equal importance to him, wiih a very 
definite and serious purpose to be of service to inexperienced readers. There is no better 
or more interesting book of its kind n )w within their reach." — Boston Advertiser. 

" President Noah Porter's ' Books and Reading' is far the most practical and satis- 
factory treatise on the subject that has been pub'ished. It not only answers the questions 
'What books shall I read?' and 'How shall I read them?' but it supplies a large and 
well-arranged catalogue under appropriate heads, sufficient for a large family or a small 
public \\\iX2.xy."— Boston Zion's Herald. 



*45.* For sale by all booksellers, or sent, post-paid, upon receipt oi 
■price, by 

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Final Causes. 

MEMBER OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 

Translated /ro?n the Second French Edition. With a Preface by 
Robert Flint. D.D., LL.D. 



One Vol. 8vo., - - - Price, $2.50 



'"Here is a book to which we give the heartiest welcome and the study of 
which — not reading merely — we commend to all who are seeking to solve the question 
whether the universe is the product of mind or of chance. . . . Perhaps no living 
author has been more thoroughly trained by previous studies for the work done here 
than Mr. Janet; and no one is better fitted for it by original gifts." — Unizersalht 
Quarterly, 

" I regard 'Janet's Final Causes' as incomparably the best thing in litera- 
ture on the subject of which it treats, and that it ought to be in the hands of every 
man who has any interest in the present phases of the theistic problem. I am very 
glad that you have brought out an edition for the American public and at a price 
that makes the work acceptable to ministers and students. I have commended it to 
my classes in the seminar^-, and make constant use of it in my instructions." — From 
a letter of Professor Francis L. Patton, D. D. 

'' I am delighted that you have published the translation of Janet's ' Final 
Causes ' in an improved form and at a price which brings it within the reach of many 
who desire to possess it. It is in my opinion the most suggestive treatise on this im- 
portant topic which is accessible in our language, and is admirably fitted to meet 
many of the misleading and superficial tendencies of the philosophy of a popular 
but superficial school." — Extract from a letter of Xoah Porter. D.D,. LL.D., 
President of Yale College. 

'■ The most powerful argument that has yet appeared against the unwar- 
ranted -conclusions which Haeckel and others would draw from the Darwinian 
Theory. That teleologfy and evolution are not mutually exclusive theories, M. 
Janet has demonstrated with a vigor and keenness that admit of no reply." — The 
Exatniner. 

" No book of greater importance in the realm of theological philosophy has 
appeared during the past twenty years than Paul Janet's ' Final Causes.' The 
central idea of the work is one which the whole course of scientific discussion has 
made the burning question of the day, viz : That final causes are not inconsistent 
with physical causation." — Indejiendent. 



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OUTLINES OF PRIMITIVE BELIEF 

among the Indo-European Eaces. 

By CHARLES FRANCIS KEARY, M.A., 

q/ the British Museum. 



One vol, crown 8vo,, - _ - - $2»50o 

Mr. Keary's Book is not simply a series of essays in comparative myth- 
ology, it is a history of the legendary beliefs of the Indo-European races 
drawn from their language and literature. Mr. Keary has no pet theory to 
establish ; he proceeds in the spirit of the inquirer after truth simply, and 
his book is a rare example of patient research and unbiased opinion in a most 
fascinating field of exploration. 

" We have an important and singularly interesting contribution to our knowledge 
of pre-historic creeds in the Outlines of pre-historic Belief a inotig the Indo-European 
Races^ by Mr. C. F. Keary, of the British Museum. No contemporary essayist in 
the field of comparative mythology — and we do not except Max Miiller — has known 
how to embellish and illumine a work of scientific aims and solid worth with so much 
imaginative power and literary charm. There are chapters in this volume that are as 
persuasive as a paper of Matthew Arnold's, as delightful as a poem. The author is 
not only a trained inquirer but he presents the fruits of his research with the skill and 
felicity of an artist." — New York Sun. 

"Mr. Keary, having unusual advantages in the British Museum for studying 
comparative philology, has gone through all the authorities concerning Hindoo, 
Greek, early Norse, modern European, and other forms of faith in their early stages, 
and there has never before been so thorough and so captivating an exposition of them 
as that given in this book." — Philadelphia Bulletin, 

THE DAWN OF HISTORY. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO PRE-HISTORIC STUDY. 
Edited by C. F. KEARY, M.A., 

OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



One Volume, 12mo., > - - $1.25. 

This work treats successively of the earliest traces of man in the re- 
mains discovered in caves or elsewhere in different parts of Europe ; of 
language, its growth, and the story it tells of the prehistoric users of it ; of 
the races of mankind, early social life, the religions, mythologies, and folk- 
tales of mankind, and of the history of writing. A list of authorities is 
appended, and an index has been prepared specially for this edition. 



" The book may be heartily recommended as probably the most satisfactory 
summary of the subject that there xs..'"— Nation. 

" A fascinating manual, without a vestige of the dullness usually charged against 
scientific works. ... In its way, the work is a model of what a popular scientific 
-.vork should be ; it is readable, it is easily understood, and its style is simple, yet dig 
nified, avoiding equally the affection of the nursery and of the laboratory." — 

Boston Sat. Eve. Gazette 

*4fr* For sale by all booksellers, or sent, post-paid, upon receipt of 
price, by 

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^ 



THEBEGINNINGSOFHISTORY 

According to the Bible and the Traditions of the Oriental Peoples. Fron? 
the Creation of Man to the Deluge. By Francois LenormanTi 
Professor of Archoeology at the Mational Library of France, etc. 
(Translated from the Second French Edition). With an introduction 
by Francis Brown, Associate Professor in Biblical Philology, 
Union Theological Seminary. 



1 Vol,, 12mo, 600 pages, - - „ $2,50, 



" What should v/e see in the first chapters of Genesis ? " writes M. Lenor- 
mant in his preface— "A revealed narrative, or a human tradition, gathered 
up for preservation by inspired writers as the oldest memory of their race ? 
This is the problem which I have been led to examine by comparing the nar- 
rative of the Biblo with those which were current among the civilized peo-^ 
pies of most ancient origin by which larael was surrounded, and from the 
naidst of which it came." 

The book is not more erudite than it is absorbing in its interest. It has 
bad an immense influence upon contemporary thought ; and has approached 
its task with an unusual mingling of the reverent and the scientific spirit. 



" That the ' Oriental Peoples ' had legends on the Creation, the Fall of Man, the 
Deluge, and other primitive events, there is no denying. Nor is there any need o; 
denying it, as this admirable volume shows. Mr. Lenormant is not only a believer 
n revelation, but a devout confessor of what came by Moses ; as well as of what came 
by Christ. In this explanation of Chaldean, Babylonian, Assyrian and Phenician 
tradition, he discloses a prodigality of thought and skill allied to great variety of pur- 
suit, and diligent manipulation of what he has secured. He ' spoils the Egyptians* 
by boldly using for Christian purposes materials, which, if left unused, might be 
turned against the credibility of the Mosaic records. 

" From the mass of tradition here examined it would seem that if these ancient 
legends have a common basis of truth, the first part of Genesis stands more generally 
related to the religious history of mankind, than if it is taken primarily as one account, 
by one man, to one people. . . . While not claiming for the author the 
setting forth of the absolute truth, nor the drawing from what he has set forth the 
soundest conclusions, we can assure our readers of a diminishing fear of learned un- 
belief after the perusal of this work." — The Neiv Englander, 

•' With reference to the book as a whole it may be said % (i). That nowhere else can 
one obtain the mass of information upon this subject in so convenient a form; (2). That 
the investigation is conducted in a truly scientific manner, and with an eminently 
Christian spirit ; (3). That the results, though very different from those in common 
acceptance, contain much that is interesting and to say the least, plausible ; (4). That 
th2 author while he seems in a number of cases to be injudicious in his state- 
ments and conclusions, has done work in investigation and in working out details that 
will be of service to all, whether general readers or specialists." — The Hebreia 
Student. 

'■' The work is one that deserves to be studied by all students of ancient history, and 
in particular by ministers of the Gospel, whose oflfice requires them to interpret th^ 
Scriptures, and who ought not to be ignorant of the latest and most interesting con. 
tribution of science to the elucidation to the sacred volume." — New York Tribune, 



*^j* For Sale by all booksellers, or sent, post-paid, upon receipt 0/ price, 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers, 

743 AND 745 Broadway, New York, 



